Spring Retreat

This year 60 women gathered at Spring Retreat for fellowship, fun, teaching, and worship.  The room was beautiful and filled with decorations that matched our zebra theme for the retreat.   

What a great welcome crew!  Check out their zebra scarves!  We have an amazing team of women who  worked hard to put on a great retreat!  We are thankful for all your hard work.  There aren't pictures of everyone who worked hard on the retreat but we want everyone who played a role in the retreat to know we are proud of you and thankful for your help!

The first night we had a competition to see who could wear the best animal print outfit and accessories. 

Nails to match the decorations:

Beautifully decorated vest:

 We had fun taking group pictures with all the great animal print outfits!



We even had shoes and footies that were animal print.

We had an amazing worship team this year that blessed us with their talent!

Women loved the worship this year!

We brought back the marketplace again and supported our worship leader, authors, Triennial fundraising, and great causes like Restore Innocence and Mavuno Marketplace.

Our speaker, Tiffany, had a very genuine and heart felt message this year. 

Read the review from one of our retreat attendees:

Tiffany’s “God’s Love is Bigger than Your ‘But’” sessions were heartfelt, hopeful and real. Her beautiful photographs enriched her sessions and she chose verses that undercut those fears and “but God” moments. When we feel small, we must remember how big God is! Only He determines our worth. And He knows our hearts better than anyone. He is the God who sees us (Genesis 16:13). This especially impacted me because I have felt invisible for a great part of my life, even being treated that way by people who called themselves my closest friends. It is so powerful knowing that God can see me, that He loves me and can overcome not only my fears, but the world (John 16:33)! Tiffany encouraged all of us to reframe our lives with this idea of His unfailing, unfaltering love as bigger than any obstacle!

Tiffany and Kinsey (our Women Ministries Chair) pose in front of the zebra butt.  It was a fun and visual way to remind us that God's love is bigger than a Zebra's butt and any other but we could find in our lives.  

We rejoice in the fact that God's love is bigger than our but.

Breakout Sessions!  Women loved the choices this year and wanted to attend them all!  We didn't get to capture all of the options with pictures but here is an idea of one unique craft idea during a breakout session.

Enjoying fellowship with others:

There were to many fun things going on to capture them all on camera.  We didn't get a picture of every person, all the breakout sessions, yoga, or the food.  I think we were too busy enjoying the amazing food to think about pictures! 

Hopefully this gives you all just a small taste of what our weekend was like!  We hope you will join us next year!

Meet our Spring Retreat Speaker - Tiffany Stuart!

God's Love is Bigger than Your "But"

Come explore what "but" (or buts) you have that keep you from intimacy with God and find out what a zebra's behind has to do with it!

Do you desire a deeper love relationship with God, but find yourself stuck in the same dry place? Are you tired of your mundane prayer life? Do you need some rest, encouragement or inspiration?

If so, please join us as our speaker Tiffany Stuart shares her story of healing and restoration. Using her creative spirit, her photography (including a zebra butt) and God's Word, Tiffany invites women to see the depths of God's love in a fresh, new way.

Over the weekend, we will examine our hearts and look at God's heart towards us. We will explore what holds us back in our love relationship and we will talk about ways to overcome those obstacles. Together we will learn and laugh, and maybe even cry, but trust this: we will see God do something beautiful.

Featuring - Tiffany Stuart

http://www.teawithtiffany.com/speaking/zebra-butts-gods-love

As a child, Tiffany experienced uncertainty at home and abuse outside the home. She viewed God as a judge and always felt guilty. All Tiffany really wanted was unconditional love. Unfortunately chasing love only brought her trouble during her teens and twenties.

Thankfully God met Tiffany when she needed Him most, when she was bankrupt, broken and ashamed. Tiffany is living proof that God is in the restoration business. God's love healed her wounded heart.

Today Tiffany dreams of more creative ways to share God's great love whether it's more speaking, snapping photos, writing or blogging or something new. Tiffany's writing has been published in devotionals, magazines and websites, including Focus on the Family. Last year Tiffany became a certified life coach so she can better help women get unstuck and dream again.

Born compassionate, Tiffany has volunteered with pro-life centers, mentored teen girls in jail, and visited the sick in hospitals.

Tiffany lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her husband of 21 years, their daughter and son (on weekends since he's in college) and their two dogs.

Don't Miss Out!  Registration begins March 17th!

Spring Retreat Recap

Fifty women gathered at ALOFT Hotel in Broomfield for our annual Spring Retreat!  It was an amazing time of teaching, worship, prayer, fellowship, food, and fun. 

The ALOFT Hotel has a funky, modern feel to it.  The food was great!  The decorations were cute!  I personally had the opportunity to meet new people, connect with close friends, eat food, shop at the marketplace, worship, and be challenged by our key speaker, Ginger, and breakout speakers.

The ALOFT:

Welcome to Spring Retreat!!

Loving the unique decorations!

Connecting With Other Women as Retreat Begins:

The Yummy Dessert on Friday night! 

Plenty of coffee for all.  A must for any ACC Women Ministries event!

The MCs....i.e. taskmasters!!

Linda and Kinsey

Ginger leading worship the first night:

 

I felt very challenged by Ginger's message, “Strength for the Journey.” I know that we will all be challenged in this life. God makes no promises that our lives will be easy because we love Him. What is the condition of your heart when you face trials? This message seemed so simple to me, yet when I thought about how I’m doing in my own life with the condition of my heart, I realize what a struggle it is to have a heart that this gracious. Lately, I’ve been angry and frustrated when trials have come my way. I am not very pleasant at times.  Much of time I look to overcome trials on my own strength rather than striving to rely on God’s strength. That’s usually when I become unpleasant! However, I find that when I rely on God, those trials seem to be put into perspective. It was a great heart check for me.

 Worship Time:

We brought back the marketplace again this year. The marketplace supports various ministries both local and abroad. I personally used my spending money for the month on a cute t-shirt from Freedom Fashionistas. I got birthday gifts for friends ahead of time from The Starfish Project and ALC Crafts. These organizations work to get women out of human trafficking and provide them with rehabilitation.  They make unique gifts for friends and give me a great opportunity to share about these causes! 

  

 

Krista models the pj pants from Freedom Fashionistas!

We also had the opportunity to have breakout sessions that ranged from fun and informative (Fabulous after Fifty and Find More Time in Your Day and Space in Your House) to fellowship driven (Finding God in Everyday Life). There was even a yoga class!  Another breakout session focused on social justice. Human Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. This was a tough subject to discuss, but it is important to be informed. We learned some ways we can take active steps in organizations that combat trafficking.  Check out my journey in thinking about these difficult topics -  A Journey and Coke (Zero) Addiction .

Yoga!! Don't forget to come check out the next class at church on May 14th at 7 p.m.!

Debbie teaches us about finding more time in our lives and how to be fabulous after fifty!

Introducing Dawn who spoke about human trafficking:

Going through Finding God in Everyday Life in a Small Group Discussion Format:

We ended the retreat with a time of worship and prayer.  We wrote on stones the name of God that has meant the most to us recently.  I've taken mine home and put it on the piano because I walk by it every day.  I want it to be a symbol of what God has done in my life.  Who knows... I've thought about making my own rock decoration in my house and using rocks to symbolize the significant events in my life where God has shown himself.  Maybe I'll put them in a funky, clear vase. 

We ended by encouraging one another and "tagging" others with sticky notes of encouragment!  What a great way to end the weekend!

See....we had so much fun!  Don't miss out next year!

Many parts of this weekend were challenging. Ginger shared her experience with us about her trip to a children’s jail in Uganda. She also shared about her passion for World Vision. We hit on topics of social justice like human trafficking. These topics are heartbreaking. I was so encouraged by the response of the women here. They have such compassionate and caring hearts!  It was great to see God move amongst such difficult subjects. 

When people hear about Arvada Covenant Women Ministries I want them to hear great things about our events like good food, great teaching, fun atmosphere and a great place to connect with other women. But, I also want them to hear that we are passionate about bringing about awareness of hurting people and promoting ways to help those people. 

In my blog post - A Journey, I quote a verse from Micah 6:8 - And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. This is my heart's desire for our ministry!  Thanks for going on this "Journey" with me! Thanks to all the women who attended the retreat! I appreciate you kind, compassionate, and caring hearts!

Kinsey Ringenberg ~ Women Ministries Chair