flourishing. kind of.

we have been dropping like flies in this house, with the flu.  good times!

nothing like walking smack first into puke, after a good weekend away.

i texted KK a few nights ago and said "it's a good thing i get to go to flourish again cause i don't remember a darn thing that jesus taught me there".

(please replace darn with another word)
i mean clearly, i love to exaggerate.  but it felt like everything i experienced and learned was flushed right down the toilet.

 

i'm so serious.  this week has been testing me at every corner, and i feel like i've failed miserably.

i tried the perspective change and it lasted a few days...then more family members were puking and it was getting harder and harder to be thankful for the dang puke,

and i felt like i was on death row--just waiting my turn for the inevitable puking (which still has yet to come, thank you jesus).  i sat there at the dinner table alone one night (everyone else was either sick and in bed, or just in bed) and i thought to myself "why am i eating this?  it's probably gonna come back up in a few hours".

i lived in a "my world sucks" bubble.

i'm so selfish.

 

all i wanted was to sit down and not think about anybody else but myself.

selfishness central.

i am doing the job the lord has assigned me to do.  even in the cleaning up of puke.

i finally just had to slap myself across the face (literally) and tell myself to stop being a baby.

it came to me in the middle of the night, when i was up with caedmon and he was apologizing over and over for waking me up to get sick.  and i told him "caedmon, i am your mom and i will always be there to clean up your puke.  always."

and it's true.  that's my job.  to mold and shape these little humans, even if that means cleaning up some pretty gross stuff.

i'll do it, because there isn't a greater job in the world.

(this is so much easier for me to type than to actually believe)

life is hard.  whatever stage you are in, it's always going to be hard.  our struggles will always seem rough.  we (and by we i certainly mean I) need jesus.
nothing else.
 

as i type this, we've had one full day, free of sickness.  i'm not getting my hopes up yet, but, let's pray it's gone.  and let's pray we are immune to the puking for the rest of the winter season, mkay?
and also pray i never have to type the word puke so many times again.

 

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moving on...awkwardly because i don't have any other way to transition.

our hope with flourish was for women to walk away feeling refreshed in the lord, and to make life-long friendships.

i know that both were accomplished for most...and i know that the lord was pleased with the weekend.

seeing women join together as one, to worship him, grow in truth and to love each other---it's just really awesome to experience.

obviously the lord was working hard at flourish----my week of under attack must prove this.

 

thanks to some fabulous ladies, we also got to pamper the attendees with a gorgeous bag full of goodies.  we couldn't have done this ourselves, and i wanted to take a quick moment to thank each shop, and show you how talented these ladies are:

 

laura from bits of splendor gave each woman a beautiful ring---look at how cute her packaging was too!

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lindsay from pen and paint made a custom print for flourish, with our retreat verse, psalm 52:8.

(this print is going to go up in olives room!)

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hannah from happy days made each lady a pair of gorgeous earrings.  and again, with the packaging.  so cute.

 

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rebecca from better life bags had an adorable clutch made for each woman.  her tags say "each better life bag is made by a special woman in our community who otherwise would not be able to work.  you have helped provide her with dignity, honor and respect."

i just love that. 

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and last but not least, all the goodies were housed in these adorable bags, made by my good friend chelsea.  you can see more pics of the bags here.



thanks to all of our sweet sponsors! 

if you'd like to donate something to our next goodie bag for flourish, please email us at flourishretreat@gmail.com!

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i enjoyed many things during the weekend but my favorite time by far was worship.

we were able to sit up on the top of the dock, and enjoy worship under the stars.  KK's husband led us in worship and it was pretty amazing.  there is something about being in the dark, with candles, stars and worship music.  it really brings you close to the lord.  worship music feeds my soul.  i could have done that all weekend and been totally good.

 

some women even got up early for a sunrise worship.  i chose to sleep.  next time though, i'm totally getting up so i can experience the sunrise.  apparently it was incredible.





i mean, god is real.  and good.

and i will choose to believe that today!

 

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KK and i are already planning flourish 2...it will be in february, so mark your calendars now.  more details will follow but feel free to email us at flourishretreat@gmail.com if you have any questions.