Blue Shoes And Hello Kitty Bags

My 1st ever women's retreat. And I am not going alone. The miracle is that my mom, my sister, my daughter, my aunt, and 2 cousins are coming with me. Our family has never been good at expressing our faith in God. Young Life changed that for me years ago. But the fact that all of us are actually going to a retreat together is miraculous.

This is a Young Life event at their newest camp,Lost Canyon. The speaker is a dynamic YL lady who held her own on stage a couple years ago with none other than Jeff Foxworthy. Foxworthy just happens to be a Young Life leader just like me. I have a lot in common with funny famous people. You knew that, right?

So the precamp fun began shortly after everyone reluctantly agreed to join me on this adventure.
"Are we going to be sitting in church all day? Boring!" "Young Life-boring? Won't happen!"
"Won't we be cold?" "Hardly."
"It says there is a meeting at 8:30, I go to bed at 8:30." "Trust me, you will be glad you stayed up."
"Anything special we need to bring?" "BLUE SHOES!"

Ok, I admit, I made up that we needed to bring blue shoes. I thought it was an innocent prank. But it grew. No one could find blue shoes. Who knew? My aunt said she was not spending money on blue shoes. My mom and sister drove an hour and searched 15 stores before they found blue shoes. When they got in the car my brother-in-law pointed out that only the sole was blue and once you put them on your feet they became BLACK shoes. Bother! This is getting out of control. Off to Santa Fe to find cheap, blue shoes. Mission accomplished! I found plastic, blue, gardening clogs for $5. a piece. So I bought 7 pairs. I had to guess at my cousin's size cuz she was taking a nap and could not be disturbed. BRAT! Wonder what they will think tonight when I am forced to admit there is no real need for blue shoes? Do you think getting a free pair will make up for my little white lie?

The YL leadership team for this weekend has been busy praying for us already and making plans for an excellent weekend for Christ. I let them know of our special group of 3 generations coming with blue shoes. I told them we would be the 'Blue Footed Boobies' in honor of my Mom being a 10 year breast cancer survivor. Yep, I thought of that to cover my butt with my soon to be fierce family. Sounds well thought out though, you have to admit.

So I pick Natalie up in a few minutes and off we go. Everyone is apprehensive. My cousin, Donna, though dreading it said she was coming since I would be there. That was the best gift I could get. That is why each of these loveable ladies is going. Not for what will be an incredible weekend of worship, but to be together. The bonus will be God moving in each of our lives.

Each of us is a believer and has a personal relationship with our God. The wonderful thing about this weekend is that we are going to share our faith and come before HIm together for the very 1st time. My God is an Awesome God!

Oh yeah, I also bought us each matching, cloth bags to carry our Bibles and stuff in. My cousin said I am a dork. So I lied and told her they are Hello Kitty bags. Just want her looking forward to the weekend!

In HIm,
Joyful
3-26-2010