Substance church, we had another wild retreat this weekend. And no: it wasn’t for the guys this time. To use disco-speak: “It was ladies night. And the feeling’s right.” And to boot: we had a record number of ladies at it! So hats off to my wife and all the leaders who made our Women’s Retreat a smash success!
Of course, I couldn’t personally participate (for obvious reasons); but, I have been blown away by the fruitfulness that resulted. Like our men’s retreat, the retreat was dominated by a delightful number of new Substance members (as well as many new Christians).
So thanks for all of you lady-leaders who went: I just want to say thank-you. Our ability to attract new and unchurched people is easy compared to our ability to find mature Christians who are willing to lay it out in order to disciple others. The sheer quantity of outreach and mentoring that happened during this retreat was staggering.
As for me, I was on Dad duty. (& you have to realize, I don’t cook anything except for Ramen); so, this was a big ordeal for me to feed 3 energetic kids. On Thursday night, I gathered my kids together to perform the opening ceremony for “Daddy Weekend Extravaganza” (which was a three day program of over-hyped events… designed to distract my kids from my obvious lack of maternal capabilities.) And WOW, I am amazed how many diapers my wife changes on a daily basis. (Thank the Lord! I had only one wild diaper defecation experience.) And finally, after eating candy and popcorn for breakfast on Saturday, my girls were pretty much sick-to-death of our “Extravaganza” activities. The only thing on all of our minds was: “When’s Mommy coming home!?” It suffices to say that I broke down and bought a Sony Playstation 3 to survive the weekend.
But overall, the Ladies Retreat was definitely worth it. And I think I can say on behalf of all forlorn Dads that we’d do it again for you ladies anytime… well, at least once a year.
But, get ready guys. The ladies are back. And they are ON FIRE!
