Ladies Retreat – Berachah, Malmesbury

Ladies don’t camp, we ‘retreat!’  This weekend, for the very first time, in my life, I am going on a Ladies Retreat. We are going to Berachah, in Malmesbury which is the reason I’m getting the blog out so early this morning. I think it may take a bit of time to sort out my internet connectivity so to relieve all that stress, I thought I’d put this one out early and hope to get Saturday’s blog out from the guesthouse. It looks pretty fabulous though…

These photos I took off their website. I hope to give you a more detailed account of what it’s like once I get there. One thing I can tell you and that is it is affordable! How they do it for those prices, I don’t know. The rooms look good as well.

I’m looking forward to walking. There seem to be some lovely walks in the area…and of course, because it’s spring, we can expect FLOWERS!

Now, what about the weather….as you know, Malmesbury can be HOT, but not this weekend. Temperatures look pretty good and maybe even a shower on Saturday…

That looks absolutely fine. Now I know what to wear!

As I mentioned, I have never been on a Ladies Retreat before. Before  I was married, I went away for a weekend with a few girl-friends, but there’s never been anything like this. I really feel this is where God wants me this weekend. For weeks, I meant to book, but never made the phone call or sent the email. Eventually, when I saw Sandy at church and asked her if I could come, she said it was full! With a little disappointment, I walked away, but ‘hey, at least I had tried!’  A few days later, Sandy called and said there had been a cancellation and did I still want to come. So that was that then, I was in! I noticed the Bible verse for the weekend: Psalm 73 vs 28 “But it is good for me to draw near to God…” What strikes me about this verse is that it is good for ME. It’s not about a couple of dozen women all gathering….it is about me drawing closer to God. It is with a little awe that my Beth Moore workbook reading for today (I don’t like calling it homework!) followed the same theme. Based on Isaiah 30:15,

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength….'”

What struck me about this verse is the meaning of ‘strength’ in Hebrew. It implies, (says Beth Moore), VICTORY.  I quote from the workbook, “Two primary elements are involved in victory: quietness and trust. The original word for quietness is shaqat meaning, ‘to lie quietly, be undisturbed…to calm.'”

The other amazing thing about this verse is the meaning of the word, ‘trust’ which is ‘bitchah’ – translated ‘nothing more that one can do.’ Beth Moore writes, “once we’ve obeyed God, we can do nothing more.”

Certainly, something to think about! Instead of running around like crazy people to try and get victory over a problem, we should chill, calm down – repentance and rest – quietness and trust. We don’t do nothing –   quietly spend some time in a state of prayer and complete submission to God. Ask Him to open the doors you need and please Lord slam shut the ones you mustn’t walk through. Cling to Him. He will give you peace in going the right way. TRUST Him to sort it out.

Keep the smile going!

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂

Gratitude Pic…Packed 😀