I'll share a little about my weekend first. I went with three lovely ladies from our church. We travelled the distance of about 3 hours to arrive at a beautiful hotel overlooking the sea. The cool thing about the "beach" is it actually an estuary with grass, salt marsh, channels and apparently, from the warning signs, quicksand!! About 83 women attending this weekend. We spend the weekend fellowshipping, worshipping and learning some amazing lessons from some amazing women. It was so awesome for me to see so many women who love the Lord coming together in unity. I have wondered at times if there are many Christians at all in this country so it was a total blessing to see God is working in this country and our neighbour England.
For me the weekend begun with kicking a lovely lady with a cane--by accident of course--while walking into the dining hall. Her exclamation of "she's trying to kill me!!" somehow made me feel a bit better? I somehow got through that first amazing meal without maiming anyone else.
On Saturday we had some free time in the afternoon and walked along the promenade to the little village of Grange Over Sands. It was great to enjoy a sunny walk with a hint of spring just around the corner (I hope). I later went for a wee swim in the pool. This is always fun without glasses!
The weekend seemed to fly by and before we knew it it was Sunday and we were ending the weekend with a final meal together! It was an awesome weekend full of laughter and tears and for me, lots of chatting!! I loved every minute of my time away and took home some valuable lessons--besides "do not kick ladies with canes", that is!!
To sum it up, we serve an awesome God!!
My men's retreat weekend (James here now) was also a refreshing weekend of relaxation and reflection. Like Kim, I was encouraged by the friendly and genuineness of the fellow Christians that I met, most who hailed from Manchester, England. We had a number of Scottish guys leading the worship (I genuinely enjoy hearing a Scottish accent lifted in song) and an amazing speaker who also hails from Edinburgh. It was also interesting listening to the Scottish v. English jokes and stereotypes that flew back and forth throughout the weekend. Anyways, my weekend, as cold and snowy as it was, definitely reaffirmed the Father's love for me, and for all of us, despite our faults and stubborn weaknesses. A great time!
Here is the hotel with snow surrounding it. Blue sky but cold air!
... and here it is three weeks later with no snow, but still a blue sky.
One of my favourite little hikes that I went on. At the top of the hill above the town was this "folly". A mini castle. Originally built in the early 1800's, it had an upstairs room and a lower one. Floors, roof and doors long gone - but pretty cool!
A local church that seemed picturesque.
A view from the folly, overlooking the town.
A long disused gate close to the folly.
A photo of my friend Ian and a tree.
The local train station right outside of the hotel.
Here are Kim's pictures....
Here is the sign pointing the way to the trains.
This sign looked promising......
One of the channels in the estuary.
A sign about the estuary.
A view from the promenade towards the sea. It is so hard to capture how beautiful it was.
Where we had a latte after our "hard" walk into town.
I like the all in one type establishments.
The ladies that went on the retreat from our church. Linda is not a shady lady...the tree was though!!
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