anyone want to retreat with me?

I heard this quote recently,

"God's truth comes to us a second after we've asked for it and a second before we second-guess His voice."  

Um, do you second-guess like I do?  All I ever do is second guess!  He practically has to kick me in the shins to get me to listen.   I've been feeling some things lately.  Who am I kidding, I feel ALL THE THINGS.  Feeling Him tug on my heartstrings a little bit, asking me to give and serve out of the ways I'm created uniquely me.  Ways I'm created that I don't give enough credit or importance because sometimes I don't realize that not everyone else thinks or breathes or loves the same way I do.  I just assume we are all the same, but we are not.  I need you and you need me and we definitely need that quiet gal over in the corner with a rich inner life and much to share.

One thing that trips me up is that I'm good at a lot of things.  I'm a really hard worker, and I can succeed at almost anything I put my mind to.  It's a blessing and a curse, because essentially I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none.  I always wanted to have that one thing that people identified with me.  One thing that I excelled at and that was undeniably a part of my heart.  One thing I felt called to do.

A few years ago, during a meeting, we had an ice breaker questions asking essentially, "If you could do anything as a career, what would you do?"  I've always struggled with this question because I don't seem to fit neatly in a box.  In college, I poured over the catalog for majors, never finding one that I felt really represented me or anything I wanted to do.  I didn't really know what I was looking for, but I knew I didn't want to be a business person or a lawyer or an engineer.  I actually had no idea who I was and what makes me tick in college, and here I was trying to figure out my future.

So, when this question was asked at that meeting 15 years later, I was surprised at what came out of my mouth.  Here's what literally fell out of me, "I want to be a place and create a space that women come to for refreshing, for healing, for encouragement, and for edification." What that means, I have no idea, but I'm trying to live out of the truest bits of me and here's what I know for sure...here are my missions in life as an individual (outside of being a wife and a mom).

First, I am created to be a champion of women.  I am created to encourage, to lift up and refresh the women in my life and my sphere.  I am created to love on them and show them how they are beautiful and neither too much or not enough.

Second, coming out of the first one, I also feel a deep responsibility to normalize our experiences as women through vulnerability.  I want to share the things that you're afraid to, so that you see that you're not the only one or weird or alone.  I want you to say, "Me too," or "I didn't know anyone else felt that way," and because of that walk a little taller, feel a little more supported, and tell a little bit more of your own story so the next woman will do the same.

This is a long and windy road to tell you that I have something cooking in my brain and heart.  I feel inadequate and ill-equipped, and scared of failing, but I'm saying yes anyways.

God's truth for me right now before I second-guess it, is that I create a space for refreshing women...figuratively through this blog and literally, through a weekend retreat.  

My pits are all sweaty and my heart is beating so fast as I type this.  I'm starting small and working from the inside out.  Before I have any details figured out, before I have a master plan or anything solid, I'm throwing it out there.  I don't pretend to know what I'm doing, but that's the best place to be, isn't it, friends?

So, drumroll please.....

I'm hosting a low-key weekend retreat that hopefully balances the need to be filled up, but also poured out.  A restful place for the weary mom just needing a break, the busy woman who hasn't had any time to reflect and process, the girl who desperately needs some love, a glass of wine, and Jesus all meshed into one weekend.  And I can't wait.  

So, who's with me??  I'd love to gauge interest as I begin to piece this all together.  Nothing is set in stone, but I'm thinking March 2017 over a Friday and Saturday night.  Probably 10-12 women to keep things intimate.

If this sounds like something you would want to do, would you be so kind as to comment here on the blog, Instagram or Facebook?  Or you can email me directly at tinyuprisings@gmail.com.

I hope you can come!  Emoji with smiley face blowing a kiss.

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