Blossom Retreat - Recap

Ladies, I have got to say, I’m still smiling about this past weekend’s Blossom Retreat!  I know we promised you a recap post so here it is!

On Friday evening, three cars loaded up with the girls, their small group leaders, and lots of luggage (!) headed to the beautiful Chapel Valley Estate Bed and Breakfast in Ellwood City.  Despite a few detours (yes, I got our caravan lost a couple times!) we made it to the bed and breakfast right on time.  Jennifer Goebbel and the Innkeepers, Pat and Tom Bishop, all greeted us at the door while the girls “oohhed” and “ahhed” over the adorableness of our accommodations.

Our super cute place mats

After a dinner of pizza in the dining room, which was decorated specifically just for our group (swoon!), we headed to our meeting area for the first message of the weekend.  We were so thankful to have live worship to open our first session of the weekend.  It was amazing and helped to prepare each of our hearts for the message to follow.

So ladies, this retreat was full of “firsts” for me personally.  My first time ever at a bed and breakfast, first time attending a retreat, first time helping to lead a retreat, and first time giving a message!  Yes, I’ll repeat that, giving a message.  

Let me back up a bit…  Way back in the spring, I heard that Stasi Eldredge had released a new book for teen girls that was similar to her books for women, “Captivating” and “Becoming Myself”, both of which I loved.  So I thought I’d read her latest book because I just can't get enough of Stasi’s writing and sometimes, my inner monologue is more “13 year old Marcy” than “39 year old Marcy”.

As I read the book, I just couldn’t help thinking that the topics Stasi covered were all things I wished I had known as a teenage girl.  Even as an adult woman, the areas Stasi wrote about spoke to my heart.  By the time I finished reading the book, I really felt like God was telling my heart that all the lessons I learned from the book needed to be shared!

God has such a way of working out His Plans!  I thought I would just suggest that someone, certainly not me, maybe do a book study with the teens on this book.  I never would have imagined that God would bring about a whole retreat and that I would get to be a part of it or that I would even get to speak at it!  I mean, I’ve never done that before.  But with God, you really just need to be willing and obedient and He works out all the rest : )

So anyway, back to the recap! Friday night I spoke to the girls all about our hearts.  I impressed upon them that the condition of our hearts is so important.  I told them how much God wants our hearts and how we need to be good to our hearts.  I also reminded them that a lot of times, our hearts are the way they are because of things from our past and how Jesus can come in, bringing healing and restoration.  I closed my message that night empowering the girls with five truths from God’s Word that they can hold onto in their hearts.  And can I say, my heart was so glad when I scanned the room and realized each girl there was diligently writing them down! So awesome!

Following the message, the girls had some “free time” but it was spent mostly talking and playing games.  You see, we informed the girls early on that we would be holding on to their cell phones and avoiding the tv’s in our rooms. Yep – no phone or tv – for the whole retreat (except for our selfie scavenger hunt, but more on that later)!  We wanted the girls to truly be able to focus and hear from God during the weekend. And you know what? They were all ok with that.  There may have been a tiny bit of phone withdrawal here and there but the girls did great.

Saturday morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast that smelled so good it should be captured and turned into a Yankee Candle, lol!  With full bellies and smiles on our faces, we headed back to our meeting space for "quiet time" and then later, more worship and Session #2 of the retreat.

Jennifer Goebbel delivered the second message to the girls called “Authentic Beauty”. Her powerful message spoke to so many of us.  As she talked about what real beauty is and how God truly sees us, hearts were moved.  There were tears and smiles at the end of the message and throughout the discussion time afterward.  I believe everyone who heard it had a new definition of beauty by the time our morning session concluded.

Quiet Time on Saturday morning

Our schedule of events

After taking a break for lunch, it was time for our first “fun activity” of the day.  We headed down to the event room where each girl found a blank canvas at her seat and a stack of papers that had words like: beautiful, strong, worth it, child of God, etc. in different fonts and colors on them.  A large table was set up as a sort of “craft buffet” with a wide variety of paint, ribbons, scrapbook paper, embellishments, and lots of sparkly things!  The girls were instructed to use whatever items they desired to create a “self-portrait collage”.  We reminded the girls that this was going to be a time of hearing from God and to be listening for His Voice.

I’m not even kidding when I say that 2 whole hours later, all the girls had completed their portraits!  Each was unique and different.  Some were simple yet powerful while others took full advantage of the all the paint and Modge Podge – lol!  It was so awesome to see each girl admiring not only their own canvas but the canvases of all the other girls around them with giant smiles on all of their faces.

Beautiful ladies on the inside and out!

Having some fun ; )

Next up was the “Selfie Scavenger Hunt”.  Basically, the three small groups the girls had been divided into became three teams on a mission! From such things as “take a picture of your entire team under a bed” to “take a video of your team playing leap frog” to “take a selfie with Innkeepers, Pat and/or Tom”, silliness ensued.  These girls had their eyes on the prize though: bragging rights for the winning team and the right to be the first group to pass through the popcorn bar at our pajama party that night! 

After time had run out for the scavenger hunt, the girls were instructed to get ready for our celebratory dinner!  As we entered into the dining room, the girls were blown away not only by the table that was beautifully set for us, but by the surprise gift by each of their place settings!  Each lovely lady was given a special bracelet to commemorate their weekend retreat.  We wanted to celebrate the ladies, who they are, who God says they are and how much He dearly loves them.  It was important to us that the girls really understood that they are worthy, treasured, and deeply loved in God’s sight.  Before we prayed over our meal, Jennifer shared this empowering quote from Catherine of Sienna with the girls which still sticks with me today, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” 

As the girls were showing their bracelets to each other and discussing the events of the day, our dinner was served. It was such a special time of celebration and reflection of all that we had heard and learned from the Lord!

Following dinner, we gathered together one last time for worship and the Word.  As I gave the third and final message of the retreat, I looked around the room and was simply blown away by these amazing young ladies.  My last message of the weekend was about our names.  I reminded the girls of their true names, that we are God’s beloved. You know sometimes, we allow other people to give us names and often, we label ourselves with names that simply are not true. I impressed upon them that in those times, it is vital that we switch it up and remember and believe the truth – the name God has given us!  As I closed out my message, I gave each young lady a note card with the meaning of their name and the Scripture connected to them.  Following the message, we broke back up into our groups for another time of discussion and reflection.

Then it was time for a party – a pajama party that is! We all changed into our pj’s and settled in together for a movie and snacks from the popcorn bar.  The girls got to mix in things like chocolate chips, pretzels, etc. into their bags of popcorn.  We all got comfy with blankets and pillows and enjoyed the movie.  It was my first slumber party in ages but… some things never change.  There was a lot of laughter and silliness and even some singing!  All we needed were a few “hairbrush microphones”!

Following the movie, we decided to have an “open style” discussion.  Basically all the adults sat on the couch while the teens sat on the floor and got to ask us any question they wanted.  I gotta tell you, a lot of people worry about this generation or feel like they can’t relate to them.  But I’m here to tell you, they still have the same questions we all did when we were their age.  And I have to admit, it was really fun answering their questions from the “adult” side of the teenage years with a Christian woman’s knowledge and perspective.  

The next morning it was time to pack up and head home.  But, not before another scrumptious breakfast!  I think we all were giddy at the sight of bacon on our plates! After filling up on the delicious food, we thanked Pat and Tom and their staff for a great time at Chapel Valley.  We loaded up our cars and headed back to West Ridge, smiling as every mile melted away on the highway behind us.

Post by: Marcy Gates

I’d like to extend a special thank you to the following people who worked so hard to make the Blossom Retreat unforgettable:

Jennifer Goebbel – West Ridge Women’s Ministry Director, Speaker
Jimmie Lee DiIanni – Small Group Leader
Amy Knox – Small Group Leader
Erik Kerr – Worship (Friday)
Becca Cummins – Worship (Saturday)
Nicole Yoder – Selfie Scavenger Hunt Creator/Facilitator (& deliverer of lunch, lol!) 
Pat & Tom Bishop & the staff of Chapel Valley Estate