Four Retreat Themes--Each with Several Sessions
Each theme comes with several different sessions. Each session is designed for 45 to 60 minutes each. Brenda can customize any of these themes to meet your group's needs of one, two, three or four sessions.
Visions of Victory
Especially designed for women who are dealing with challenges to be met, problems to be solved, transitions to navigate, changes to cope with, relationships that need tending, and temptations to overcome.
- Every Girl Pulling for Victory
- Every woman, in some way, big or small, is pulling for victory in some area as she rows up the "river of life." It may be major or it may be minor, but everyone faces challenges. Why is the rowing often hard? What rocks your boat? And who steadies it?
- The Spirit of Victory
- Why is a woman's spirit, as well as God's Spirit, important to achieving victory? How does a woman lift her spirit? How can she ignite hope and strengthen her resolve? How can victory girls help each other?
- Victorious Effort
- What kind of effort does it take to successfully navigate the river of life? How does a woman build up her faith muscles and persevere during difficult times? How does she turn the tide toward triumph?
You Can Change the Way You Feel
So many of our day-to-day struggles have to do with feelings: worry, anxiety, loneliness, depression, discouragement, guilt, etc., but it doesn't have to be that way. You can change the way you feel.
- The Difference "Knowing Why" Makes
- Why do you feel the way you do? What does being a woman have to do with the way you feel? Can you name your feelings? These are important questions to ask because what a woman understands, with God's help, she can control.
- Keeping Sane in an Insane World
- Where is that line between sanity and insanity? Ever feel like you are standing on it? How can a person keep his or her sanity when everything around you seems to be falling apart?
- Never Trouble Trouble till Trouble Troubles You
- The Bible says "take no thought for tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34a) but many of us do in the way of worry, anxiety, and fear. The Bible's antidote to counteract anxiety is to concentrate on God's kingdom instead (Matthew 6:33). How can a person do that? What difference will it make?
- Climbing Up When You're Feeling Down
- Do you ever find yourself spiraling downward in the pit of D's–depression, despair, discouragement and disappointment? Fortunately, there are positive steps for climbing out of the pit and staying out.
- Change Your Thinking and You Change
- Many negative feelings originate with a particular response style or to self-defeating thought patterns. How do we recognize our response style? What are self-defeating thought patterns? How can we identify them, take them captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and change them in order to change our feelings?
- Creating a Joy-Filled Life
- Happiness depends on circumstances but joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives. How can we have confident assurance and experience joy? How can we feel God's love? How do we open our lives to allow him to work so that we feel really good?
The Bible's Wonder Women
Ever wonder where you are going, who you are, or how you are going to make it? Connect with the Bible's wonder women and find direction, insight and inspiration for living.
- Isn't she strong?
- Some wonder women have unusual strength. They are superheroes such as Deborah and Esther who are "able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound."
- Isn't she wonderful?
- Some wonder women are those about whom it is said, "Isn't she wonderful?" We say this with affection about women who are especially loving, friendly or giving such as Ruth or Dorcas.
- Isn't she a wonder?
- Another category of wonder women are amazing women. Our admiration for them is reflected in the question, "Isn't she a wonder?" We shake our heads at women like Priscilla and Phoebe and say, "I don't know how she does it."
- She did what?
- Some of the Bible's wonder women are incredulous such as Jael and the wise woman of Abel. Baffled by their actions, we might say, "You did what? I have to wonder about you."
- She felt how?
- The Bible also tells about wonder women who experienced wonder. They responded in awe and humility to God's working in their lives. Like Elizabeth, they said, "Who am I that this great thing should happen to me?"
Lord, Fill My Cup
Is your cup empty or half full? Here's how you can fill it to the brim and even to overflowing.
- Drinking Living Water
- A Samaritan woman met Jesus at the well (John 4:1-41). What can we learn from her encounter with Jesus about the Living Water? What is the thirst Jesus can satisfy? How can we have a clean cup to hold out to him? How can we fill it with Living Water?
- Meeting Women at the Well
- The well was a gathering place for Biblical women, where they could have their literal and emotional cups filled. The places of gathering have changed, but women still need each other.
- Friendships (Mary and Elizabeth)
- Mentoring (Titus 2:1-5)
- Surviving (Ruth and Naomi)
- Ministering (The Galilean women, Luke 8:1-3, Tabitha and her group, Acts 9)
- Sharing the Living Water
- After meeting Jesus, the Samaritan woman said to others, "Come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done" (John 4:29). How can we invite others to taste the Living Water in a way that fits who we are? When is it a good time to share Jesus with other women? How can I explain who Jesus is? What connection does sharing the Living Water have with my own cup?
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