The Women’s Retreat
This weekend, I headed up to the YMCA with a group of ladies from our church.
There was beauty.
Even in Arizona, the land of cacti and dirt, it’s out there. These were right in front of our lodge.
It was so nice to have a change of scenery! This was our view out of the dining hall.
There was relaxation.
This was my favorite spot. It was right outside of our room and it overlooked the pool. And that would be Orange Zinger tea in my hand. The perfect beverage before morning yoga.
We pulled some chairs outside and just spent some time chatting and soaking in the rays. Of course, I got a sunburn (a very minor one!), but that’s nothing new. 
Laurie led us in yoga first thing in the morning (a great way to start the day!) and the weekend was “scheduled/unscheduled,” meaning there was a schedule, but it wasn’t rigid. Flexibility lends itself very well to relaxation.
There was creativity.
My good friend, Laurie, exudes it. We didn’t have any little ties to hold our curtains open, so Laurie just whipped out her belt and instantly gave our room a western theme. I was seriously impressed.
She also happened to be my partner for an activity where each pair had to find an object to symbolize each of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control). I thought our stuff rocked, but it couldn’t hold a candle to Team Debbie’s blood red broken heart rock. And they tried to capture the wind. Nobody can compete with that!
There was service.
The women painted little clay trinkets for an organization called Ben’s Bells.
It’s an organization started by a woman whose son died suddenly. They started making Ben’s bells because it was a therapeutic process.
Then, they started distributing them all around Tucson, encouraging people to enjoy the bell they found, but to keep spreading the kindness.
They are now very well known in the area and a strong symbol of hope and a reminder that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
There was connecting.
There was laughter (a LOT of it) and a few tears, but they were in the midst of people sharing their stories and I loved learning more about their lives. I’m 15+ years younger than the next youngest person in the group and I didn’t feel removed or left out of anything. I have been praying for these relationships and am so grateful to see them growing.
Laurie and I went on a hike on Saturday afternoon and had a great time (even though we came back sore and sweaty!).
The YMCA camp was pretty great! The staff were amazing and the grounds were huge!
We thought this guy was dead for a minute, because we were pretty close to him and he didn’t move a bit! He did finally scurry to the other side of the board as we were walking away, though!
Cacti alone don’t intrigue me much, but some of the flowers that bloom from them are gorgeous! I try appreciate every bit of color I can find here!
This was the place we decided to stop and walk back to the lodge. I may not like the Arizona dirt very much, but the sky is pretty incredible!
And it’s a good thing we stopped when we did. It was hot!
And…as you can tell from the first photo…
There was fun!
Our sessions included everything from Bible Jeopardy to hula hoop games! Jill, our fearless (scheduled/unscheduled) leader, even gave us each a kaleidoscope to illustrate how God views us. There was a movie night. There were card games and Scrabble and lots of people adding friends on My Fitness Pal on our iPhones!
Seriously. This group is hilarious and so fun!
Can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!