Monday, September 27, 2010

gIRL Getaway!

(Robyn and I were truly focused on the weekend and not that our college teams were playing each other and that her mom kept texting us the score!! )




















This past weekend, I had the privilege to take off to beautiful Black Mountain, NC for a gIRL(girlfriends in real life) get away. These girls are some of your bloggy friends whose posts you read on a regular basis. And what do we all have in common? Our love for Jesus, our Lord.

Over the years, I have been on many church retreats, women's retreats, youth retreats, etc.! I have loved them all and have taken away nuggets of Truth from each. When Elaine called me about this one waaaayyyy last spring, I thought, "Hmmm....another retreat. Well, maybe. At least I would get to spend some time with a few girls whose blogs I regularly read. And, it's not far from my house. And, the price is right. Ok...I'll go."

Fast forward to last Friday. I got to Black Mountain just in time to do lunch with Beth, Lisa, and Karen. We talked and laughed as if we had known each other for years. Beautiful! Then, we headed up to our cabin to check in and get to know some of these ladies who were ready to just love on us and who were so filled with the Holy Spirit! People, God was SO in control of this entire weekend! We truly gave Him all of the glory and praise for this time.

We laughed, cried, worshiped, studied the Word, and prayed. And, prayed some more! And then some more! I'm talking truly authentic praying. Loved it! The sweet aroma of the Lord permeated throughout our cabin. We prayed that we would take it with us to the rest of the camp and then home to share. Because of beautiful weather, we were able to worship outside in the amphitheater. Simply wonderful!

So, if you see a gIRL getaway near you, sign up right away! Y'all, this was such a God-filled weekend! (And so incredibly fun! )
Enjoy the pictures! More on FB. I didn't list all of the gals who were there (and they were just PRECIOUS!)--so see if you recognize them from the pics. Do you all know how long it would take to do links to everyone's blog??? Call me lazy--but honest!

Sweet blessings,

21 comments:

Marilyn in Mississippi said...

I love, love, LOVE seeing these sweet faces in your pictures! I was thinking of y'all and praying for y'all last weekend. Wishing I was there. But even if I had planned to come, last weekend would not have been a good one to have been gone from home. Benny's working so hard on a project and needed me here to help him. Maybe another time, another place. But my heart was there! Thanks for sharing the pics!

Marilyn...in Mississippi

Andrea said...

MAN! I am sorry I missed THAT weekend! What a wonderful gift. :) Beautiful!

3girlsmom said...

HA! Love it! LOVED meeting you and your USC (the REAL one) self! You are a blessing, girlfriend, and I'm glad to know you.

(war eagle.)

:)

Kathleen said...

All I know is that I'm bummed to have missed so great an opportunity. I know Melinda, so I know solid-gold planning went into this gathering (and LOTS of solid gold prayer).

So fun to see the pictures.

Blessings,
Kathleen

KelliGirl said...

Wow, that looks like fun! So glad you had a good time. I loved seeing some familiar faces in the pictures!

Welcome home.
Hugs,
Kelli

sister sheri said...

Wow! Looks like an amazing time!

Karen Hossink said...

Honest is good. *grin*
What a wonderful weekend we had. And your pictures made me smile. Thanks!

May the peace of Christ rest upon you today.

Love to you,
Karen

LisaShaw said...

Girl, it was so good meeting, hugging, laughing, loving and photo taking with you! You are so precious Susan. If you lived closer we'd be running buddies. Uh, I don't mean literally running with sneakers and all(SMILE) but running buddies meaning hanging out together (BIG SMILE).

Hugs and thanks again for your consistent prayers for me in getting home. LOVE YOU!

NikkiPoppins said...

Hi dearie!!

I loved this weekend and L.O.V.E.D. meeting you. (I think I might have mentioned something like that on FB.) You are such a joy and delight to be around and have such a sweet spirit. Thank you for driving up and spending the weekend on Black Mtn.

I loved all of your pics, those here and those on FB. I am looking forward to when we get to get away together again...hopefully this spring! And anytime you get up to TN, give me call. I'm in the middle of the state so I could EASILY drive and see you! ;) I love a good road trip!

Praying for you and thinking of you often!

Love,
Nikki

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

oh boy Susan! This just had to be awesome!! Just seeing the smiling faces of all of 'my friends'... I would have LOVED it! These gatherings are just a dose of what we will all share in heaven!! Even so... I wish I had been there. :)

Hugs!

Sonja

Rhonda Schrock said...

This sounds wonderful! What a lovely break for you.

Victoria said...

Susan, I just love all you ladies and the photos are so great! I even love how puffy-eyed I am in each one, simply because it reminds me of the overflowing that took place on that mountain! Love you!

Melinda said...

You know how God just causes a special heart-connection between people, and it's always for His greater purpose? Well, I felt that for you. Don't know what that means, exactly, but I'm trusting He'll let us know in His good time.

What I do know is that you're a treasure, Susan. A wonderful blessing indeed.

Hugs,
M

Anonymous said...

Oh Sweet Susan!!! I miss you tons. These pictures are fantastic and makes me miss all my sisters. It was a great weekend and I loved every minute!!!

Stay in touch...until next time! :)

Love and blessings,
Dori

Leah Adams said...

Susan,

You are just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. I loved your enthusiasm and love for the Lord. It was such a treat to meet you and I do hope we get to meet again IRL.

Leah

LisaShaw said...

I came back by today to say, Love ya and missing cutting up with you!!! Hugs!

Debbie Petras said...

It sounds like you gals had the best time! Maybe next year I'll have the opportunity to go too.

I had the awesome pleasure of meeting Lisa Shaw ...in person recently. She drove two hours to my sister's house in Clearwater, FL when I stayed with her to attend my niece's wedding. My whole family loves Lisa. What's not to love about this pecious sister?

Tea with Tiffany said...

I am ever so blessed to have had the privilege to meet you and many others. God is so good. So fun to meet another camera lover. :) I hope you ran long and hard when you got home. I hope you sang His praises too.

Hope our paths cross again in real life. You are precious.

Stacy@hiswaynotmine said...

Love the pictures! Looks and sounds like you had a beautiful Spirit-filled, friend-filled and fun-filled weekend. Nothing like being with a group of women who seek to know God more and live Him outloud! Thanks for sharing the highlights with us.

Joanne@ Blessed... said...

Susan,

Are you kidding me!? You were at the gIRL's getaway weekend too!? I am doubly sad I didn't get to go now! You got to hang out with some of my favorite girls...Tiffany, Marsha, Mary, Lisa...how awesome.

So, did the Lord speak to you while you were away!?

Unknown said...

Wow! Great girl bonding,nice one! :) ~ chaco ~