Monday, November 17, 2008

Falling in love with Jesus...again!


This past weekend I attended a Women’s
Retreat in the beautiful historic town of St. Francisville, LA. This town was a popular landing spot for Mississippi River Steamboats. There are three 19th-century churches still in use, and an oak-shaded public park complete with historic a bandstand/gazebo for concerts and festivals.

The theme of the retreat was “Fall in love with Jesus all over again”, and truly God was there waiting to met each one of us.

I attended the retreat with one of my closest friends, Cyndy. We were looking forward to just getting away, and expecting great things from the Lord.

He did not disappoint.

In our first session we went over the book of Habakkuk, and the remainder of our time was spent studying Psalm 23. We were so blessed and encouraged as Sister Anna Donahue expounded each verse and we discovered so many wonderful gems of truth. She is a gifted teacher who has a heart for God!

We not only got to bask in the presence of God, but there was also some very funny moments and lots of laughter. After leaving the chapel the first night it was very dark outside, and we took a wrong turn in our car that landed us on the golf cart path that surrounded the resort. I have not laughed so hard in years! You don’t even want to know how embarrassed we were trying to turn around. Praise God, we made it out safely, and there was no evidence of our escapade for the golfers to discover the next morning!

Another highlight for me was getting to spend time with a very dear friend of mine, Pastor Parris Bailey, who hosted the retreat. I’ve been knowing Parris for over 30 years, and although we don’t get to see each other very often, it was just like we were together only yesterday!

Although we are close in age, Parris has always been my Titus 2 mentor. I’ve never met a more godly and passionate woman after God’s heart. What a blessing it was for me to learn from her example and sit under her anointed teaching for many years as a young Christian. I’ve always admired, loved, and learned so much from Parris. We’ve been through a lot together; our friendship is something I’ll always treasure.
I love you Parris!

15 comments:

Davisix said...

Oh Sus ~ What a wonderful post! So glad you had a beautiful weekend!! {{{Hugs}}} to you my friend. Ang

luvmy4sons said...

So glad for your wonderful weekend. It is so great to fall in love with Jesus again and again and again! We can never go deeper than He is!

Marilyn in Mississippi said...

Sounds like a super weekend!

One of our sons worked in St. Francisville for several months a couple of years ago and took a lot of pictures of the historic places and emailed them to me. He brought me a bright yellow Fiesta ware mug with St. Francisville printed on it. I think "history" every time I use it. :)

I have not been able to get to a women's Bible study/retreat in several years now and I MISS IT SO MUCH!

God bless,
Marilyn

Laurie Ann said...

I'm so glad you had such a wonderful weekend. Sounds like a great retreat, and meeting up with old friends is precious, isn't it? Too funny about winding up on the golf cart path!

Tea with Tiffany said...

Well, you made me laugh. I'm sure I would've drove the same route. Off and onto a scenic trail. Too funny.

So sweet to know you connected with God and some precious friends. I continue to be grateful for your friendship. Loved the verse you last left me. Thank you.

God is stirring me up! And I'm so thankful. I can't get enough of his love! I blogged about His love today.

Hugs,
Tiffany

Kim@Seasons of My Heart said...

Oh Sue~ What a WONDERFUL week for sure!!!!

Aren't get aways like that 'SPECIAL'...and to think you were able to connect with your special friend.!!!

Blessings

lori said...

CUTE pic! How wonderful to get away and just in time for the Christmas season:)

YOU are a gift!
Thank you for the sweet words today girl...
peace!
lori

Debra Kaye said...

This was just lovely! I'm so glad you were so blessed!

((hugs)) to you!

Us said...

So happy you had a wonderful time! Would have loved to see the quick turn around! LOL! xo Kel

Unknown said...

Thank you for stopping by and saying hello. What a beautiful time it sounds like you had with our Lord at the retreat. I'll be praying for your repair work to be done on time or even expedited.

I am going to write a few things on forgiveness over at the blog soon. I will let you know when it is posted.

BLessings.

Tonya said...

Susan,

I'm SO BLESSED to hear that you had such a GREAT weekend! It's so good to hear that you came away refreshed and that your FIRE for JESUS was "fed"! (Now, we've SERIOUSLY GOT to get signed up for that Beth Moore thingy in Memphis)

Okay, I'll email you a little later today... I'm just taking advantage of a few quiet moments this morning and wanted to pop over and see how you were doing.

I LOVE YOU, GIRLFRIEND!

Deare Diary said...

Everyone needs to go to at least one Ladies Retreat. It is life changing. After the first one that I went to, my husband made sure that I went again! He liked having a new wife come home from the retreat! HA HA It makes me miss some of the dear sisters that I used to go with. I have not been in several years but reading your blog has stirred up a hunger to go again. I am a new blogger and I am enjoying reading yours.

God Chaser said...

Sounds like a wonderful weekend- would love to hear some of the truths/gems from Psalm 23. Be Blessed

God Chaser said...

Oh I forgot to tell you I just wrote in my Beth Moore study 90 days with Jesus that a step I needed to take was to Fall in Love with Jesus-what confirmation when I saw your title today.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Suzy, that retreat was so rich and so much fun. We certainly did make a very wrong turn on the golf course, but it ended up being one of our highlights, didn't it? It seems sometimes that life is like that...the times we think we are going the wrong way, God uses it to benefit us in a most unusual way!! Laughter is sooo good for the soul.
I love you.
Cyndy