I am very excited to write for the first time a memoir from my own church retreat! I’ll start with saying how much I love our leadership! They invited anyone who was able to take off early to have lunch with the committee at Panera Bread Company in Sherman on the way to Tanglewood Resort – a great way to start off the weekend! After we invaded the restaurant many of us topped off our tanks with caffeine-laden “foo foo” coffee drinks and away we went!

The committee worked their tails off with all the preparations. Michelle and her Registration Team were the first to greet us all with love & smiles and I’m sure a ton of other things that may have gone unnoticed, but greatly appreciated! I was blessed to be part of Dianna’s Prayer Team and help her with the Scripture cards that each lady received. I feel the need to confess something - as you know, much prayer went into the selection of the Scriptures chosen. Equally as important were the prayers invested in your personal selection from the “chest of prayers”. So much was invested into this that I could hardly wait to reach in and hold that Scripture in my own hand.  And when I did… well…it was a bit anticlimactic! I walked away thinking, “this is a nice Scripture but not really what I expected!” I went on to think, “I should not have looked first and then chosen, I should have closed my eyes…”

Instantly the Lord ministered to me, “Shame on you Bonnie Floyd! You prayed and believed all this for everyone else and when it came to you, you got the wrong Scripture? Do you really think by opening or closing your eyes you could interfere with My Will?” Of course, I immediately asked for forgiveness and then it happened! God began to flood my mind with other Scriptures which contained words from my Scripture. Let me give you just one example: my Scripture contained the words “Create in me a pure heart”. God reminded me of the Scripture “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”. My heart’s desire is to see God!  I wept before Him as He clearly showed me that those Scripture cards contained His Word, and just as it says in Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Simply put - it is impossible to interfere with the Word of God and where He intends for it to go! So, I encourage you to take “your” Scripture and read it, look up the meaning of words within it and search the Bible for other Scriptures that pertain to it…God is speaking to you, don’t miss it like I almost did!

Friday evening we walked into a BEAUTIFULLY decorated conference room filled with special touches, all courtesy of Raquel and her team, who labored to make us feel warm, welcomed and pampered! This was a great way to feel as we entered into our first session of worship with Patrick leading us into the Holy of Holies! All weekend Patrick’s worship was beautiful and I appreciated his ability to discern the appropriate times to be present among us. The message Friday night taught us to choose not to be offended and afterwards during our time of reflection, relationships were mended! This was then the perfect time for Carrie to lead us into Communion, for our hearts were right to receive the bread and take of the cup. What a wonderful evening the Lord had prepared for us and we had only just begun!

Saturday morning the Lord spoke mightily through Carrie, she hit a home run teaching us the rules for Holy living out of Colossians 3, reminding us that when we set our hearts and minds on things above - not on earthly things - our lives are hidden in Christ and we can be overcomers!

Saturday afternoon we had a 3 hour scavenger hunt that brilliantly bonded ladies together, created new friendships and brought out hidden talents! Great job Amanda and Janna -  you worked very hard all weekend keeping us entertained and we appreciate you! Speaking of people we appreciate – let us all give a standing “O” to Brandy and her team who kept us well fed. You guys really did an amazing job, thank you! 

I don’t think any of us were prepared for all that God had for us Saturday night! Especially the beginning, when God made it very clear He wanted me to speak His salvation message. I praise God for those who prayed and rededicated their lives to the Lord that night. I further rejoice over the ones who prayed that prayer for the first time and had their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life on October 18, 2008 - a date to always remember! Next we learned about having a balanced prayer life, and the importance of praying right then no matter where we are to keep ourselves from forgetting to pray. We then broke out into small groups and I am thrilled to share that many prayed out loud for the first time! This can only happen when we are not so concerned about the people we are praying with, but remember that when we pray we are praying to the audience of One! 

The evening came to a perfect close when Carrie called up her leaders to anoint them with oil and pray over them and then in turn, each leader called up their respective teams and anointed and prayed over each one in the group. It was an amazing way to end our retreat!

So, on a personal note I want to say thank you Jesus for leading me and My Donnie to Genesis Metro Church where we are Living the Dream with a group of Kingdom-minded people! And not only are you Kingdom-minded…you are our family and we love you!

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