Union Church offered a Women's Day away on a Saturday afternoon and I thought I would sign up to get to know some people. It was at a convent -- St. Mary's by the Lake. So far all of the convents I have been to for women's retreats have been awesome! This one had a sanctuary with an all glass wall overlooking Lake Washington.
It was a very slow and thoughtful day with two women leading the group in bible studies followed by small group reflection and individual reflection.
The first big question we focused on were "What do you want?" when Jesus asks his disciples "what do you want me to do?" in Matthew 20. We had time to discuss what we really want in life and shared ways we could be honest with Jesus about our real hopes and desires. We talked a lot about how our actions don't always reflect what we really want in our life and our attention isn't always focused on our real hopes and desires.
After a great gourmet boxed lunch we entered a second time of reflection focused on the question in Matthew 16 -- Who do you say that I am. People were wondering if Jesus was Elijah or the Messiah and Jesus responds with that question. The facilitators encouraged us to think about our own actions asking the question "who does my life say that I am?" and if someone who knew us would categorize our life and actions what would our life proclaim?
Both of these questions were really meaningful and really poignant for me. And it felt so good to search and listen and pray and not to be worried about attendance or preparation in any way.
What a blessing!
Sitting in reflection by the lake... so beautiful!
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