Retreat schedule and goodies.
This weekend I had the incredible privilege of speaking at a retreat hosted by a local Christian school for their high school girls. We talked about our worth in Christ, the importance of covenant keeping, and legacy. The overarching theme of the event was purity, modesty, and leaving a godly legacy.
My first message was taken from Ephesians 1: 3-7 where we learned that we are blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed and forgiven by God. I wanted the girls to understand that their worth comes,not from their bodies or their works, but from their relationship with Jesus Christ. I shared much of my testimony with the girls in this session. Each message built on the previous one.
The second message on Saturday was part one of my Covenant class. In this session, I did a fly-by of some of the major covenants in the Bible…the Noah Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and the Friendship covenant between David and Jonathan. My goal was to help the young ladies see how important covenants are, in spite of the fact that our culture knows little to nothing about covenants.
The final session of Saturday was part two of Covenant. In this session we looked at the Davidic Covenant, the New Covenant, and ended with the Marriage Covenant. My desire was for the girls to understand that A) God takes the issue of covenant very seriously, B) The marriage covenant is just as important to God as any of the major covenants from the Old Testament.We talked about how God built signs, symbols, and a solemn oath into the Marriage Covenant. I loved seeing the light bulbs go off as they realized that casual sex has cheated us of so much of the beauty of the wedding night between a man and woman who have kept themselves pure.
The precious women who put the retreat together.
There were several women who made this retreat happen. DeGina Scoggins is the girls’ Bible teacher and was the lead planner. Noelle Kiernan and Lucinda Helton are moms of some of the girls and they had such great input to add to my sessions. I was so blessed by these three women!! So blessed!!
Every princess needs a TIARA!
At the end of each session, the ladies had gifts for the girls. In the goodie bags after the first session were feathered tiaras. We wanted the girls to understand they are special to God. They are princess daughters of the King of Kings. Here you see my tiara with my most favorite color of feathers…purple!
The newly crowned princesses check out each other's tiaras.
Lots of fun and laughter as the girls tried on their tiaras.
More princesses in their tiaras.
More tiara pics.
The girls were expected to dress for dinner.
Miss Pam, the mom of one of the precious girls, catered our Saturday evening meal to the cabin. The girls were expected to ‘dress’ for dinner and wear their tiaras. Pam served a four course dinner, complete with appetizers, salad, prime rib/potato, and dessert. The girls learned how to hold their appetizer plate and their drink glass at the same time. They also learned which fork and spoon to use from a properly set table.
Dressed in dresses and tiaras for dinner.
The young ladies looked so beautiful and we could not resist a picture on this beautiful staircase in the cabin where they stayed. Are they not gorgeous?
Worship time
Sunday morning brought worship time….sleepy worship time since we ‘spring ahead’ an hour. However, the girls beautifully worshipped in song.
Worship time on Sunday morning
Reading letters from their parents and teachers
In our Sunday morning time, I talked with the girls about the legacy they are leaving for those who come behind them. My goal was to make sure they understood that every word, every action is a part of their legacy. We talked about the importance of our faith, character and holiness in creating their legacy. We talked about modesty in dress, social media status updates, sexting, and other character and holiness issues. This retreat was a no-holds barred time where the girls had permission to ask ANY question they had about purity, modesty, and sex. And let me tell you….they asked some bold, honest questions. I tried to answer them equally honestly.
The feedback I got from the girls told me they ‘GOT’ the message of purity and modestly. One of the young women shared with me that she now understood why her mom wanted her to wear certain clothes, instead of the ones a typical teen girl would wear in today’s society. She said that previously she had argued and fought with her mother about her clothes. ‘Now,’ she said, ‘after hearing what you said, I don’t want to wear those things I used to wear.”
Praise Jesus!!!
All retreats need nail polish, chocolate and notepads.
No retreat would be complete without nail polish, chocolate, and notepads.
My goodie bag had treasures from Starbucks in it!
My goodie bag was filled with treasures from Starbucks and Lifeway. LOVE!!! This is the first girls retreat I have done, but I pray it will not be my last. I was unspeakably blessed by these young women and their leaders. I felt like I had the opportunity to really speak into their lives in a way that might make a difference for, not only eternity, but for their earthly lives. Thank you, Jesus!!
