Refreshed

I returned yesterday from a great retreat at Pine Cove designed for ministry wives, and I officially feel refreshed! A group of us from my church went together, and it was so fun spending time with those delightful ladies, getting to know them better. Another sweet part of it was that I was able to spend time with my Oklahoma friend Courtney who attended the retreat as well. It was great having her here, and I can so see God working in her life in new and beautiful ways. She fit right into our group....so much so that I forgot that she isn't a staff wife at my church and I was sad the last night when I remembered she'd be going home the next day! The wonderful thing about this retreat was that it fit the definition of a retreat better than any I have ever attended. The leaders were quick to let us know that we were not obligated to attend any part of the retreat we didn't want to. If we wanted to sleep instead of go to the sessions, we were more than welcome. And it took a lot of pressure off! I still attended everything except some of yesterday morning's activities since the three of us in our room decided to sleep in instead. Well worth it! I can't remember the last time I've slept past 9am without being sick. Free counseling sessions were available, as were massage appointments. I spent a chunk of my free time on Monday being counseled and massaged, and it felt great! If only I had both kinds of therapists to follow me around every day! =)

I'm just so thankful that God knew I needed to be there. I had to really trust that when Sunday afternoon came and I had to pack for the trip. I just didn't feel like going. Which isn't like me at all. I tend to LOVE going! Doesn't even matter where! Just going. But staying home sounded good to me this past weekend. I think it was because I felt so drained emotionally which, in turn, made me feel so exhausted physically. Last week was a tough week for me. I chose to blog about the happy part (the shower!) because I just didn't have the time or energy to blog about more than one thing right then, but last Wednesday evening my dad went into the hospital with symptoms similar to those he experienced with his previous heart attacks. (Oh yes...just a couple of hours after posting about James 1 and tests. God's timing is interesting.)Thankfully, his heart appears fine, and he felt better really quickly. Could have been severe dehydration, some kind of upper GI problem, or just "normal" aspects of being diabetic. We didn't get many answers. Unfortunately, he was in the hospital Wednesday through Saturday with only one test performed - a stress test that could have been done in a doctor's office. And the communication from the doctors' end was horrible. Absolutely horrible. So that was a frustrating experience, and I just struggled with him being in the hospital during these days where I had lots going on and was so extremely fatigued, and I felt limited in my ability to spend time with him there. I was just a mess at the end of last week. There were all kinds of emotional battles I had faced. So the timing of this retreat was perfect. Sometimes retreats aren't retreats at all...they're busier than your normal life! This one really met my needs and rejuvenated me in a lot of ways. Not that I'm not physically tired! I'm 34 and a half weeks pregnant, for goodness' sake. But I appreciate the opportunity to step away from my regular daily roles and responsibilities to give some time to some areas in my heart that needed attention from the Lord. He revealed so much of Himself and how adequate He is to meet all of my needs. It was a HUGE blessing. And tons of fun and laughter happened. That's always healing.