I will mention that the room was beyond freezing and I slept fully clothed with my rain coat on hood included....not the full night of sleeping I was planning after our big move! BUT....
I did eat some Panamanian food, sang songs in English and Spanish, heard some new speakers, and made some new friends and of course I bought some jewelry they were selling made by some inmates from the women's prison ministry.
I struck up a conversation with the lady running the booth of jewelry and ended up telling her our story of coming to Panama and somehow the part of my life where I ran my own business as a professional organizer came into the conversation.
Mrs. Charlotte said to me, "You should talk to the Crossroad's Women's Committee and maybe you can help do some organizing for future events." My first thought was, "Ummm, no thank you!"
Little did I know that I, along with 3 of some of my most favorite women in Panama, would indeed be planning the entire women's retreat for 2011!
We are 3 weeks away from the big event! BLOOM 2011, Beauty for Ashes
Each of our hearts and minds were exploding as we discussed the theme and vision of Bloom, 2011. Our burning desire was the same: to live in the FULLNESS OF CHRIST. We want to experience the vastness of who Christ is and what He has and can do in our lives. Each woman is on a journey, and we want to "Bloom" into who Christ has created us to be….regardless of our pain and suffering, regardless of the hard and desert places in life, and because of these things. We want to rise above and Bloom.
Planning an event for over 200 women, lodging, food, topic, music, media, etc can be overwhelming, add that in another language and a culture that is happy to disregard contracts and you have 4 hard working women! We 3 weeks out and just changed our location in the last 36 hours! CRAZY! Good thing I do crazy well!
Please pray for us on Oct 21st and 22nd as we Bloom together! You can pray for our speaker, the great Nancy Holcomb, my mom!! No pressure Mom!!!! I am super excited to have my grandmother there too! We will have 4 generations attending the retreat!! Such a blessing!
Check out our video in the post just before this one! Jess, Abby and Lisa are my fellow bloomers!!
