our church's first ladies' retreat

This past Friday and Saturday, our church had our very first ladies' retreat. It went so well - we had a nice mix of ages, and many ladies came who were fairly new to the church. This gave us a great chance to get to know them.

There were a lot of set-backs that the ladies doing the organizing faced - the lady who was scheduled to speak was hospitalized, and not able to make it. The lady who was scheduled to play the piano wasn't able to come, as her husband went home to be with the Lord. (He was a very active member of our church, and has been seriously ill for 4 years now. He and his wife were very much "present" in the weekend, even though they weren't there.)

Yet God worked all those unexpected events into the plan, and the time was a true blessing.

And ... on a personal preference note ... they had kayaks. I do love kayaks. I ended up soaked to the skin, but had a wonderful time! :)

I've wanted a kayak ever since the first time I tried one, but my short little car won't accommodate one on the inside, and my short little arms wouldn't be able to boost one up to the roof to carry it on the outside!

But in yesterday's most recent bout of online kayak shopping, I ran across a couple inflatable models that have a rigid bow and stern. I had resisted the inflatables before, because it seemed like using them would be similar to paddling around in a child's pool-toy. But these models, with the stiffening in front and back, seem like they would glide through the water more like the real deal.

I'm pondering ...