This past Sunday, October 15, 2017, I had the honor to speak at the Precious Blood Retreat Center in Liberty, MO, for a women’s retreat. I’ve been speaking for over 10 years now, and in all that time, I’ve never received such a generous gift as the event planners and women gave me at this one!
Carla, me, & Kathy (event planners for retreat)
chapel
center
statue in garden
The event planner, Carla, told me that as a small church, they had a tight budget and might not be able to pay me a lot. Not only did they give me twice the amount of speaking fee I was expecting, but they also gave me a bag of chocolates, the goody bags they gave the attendees, a beautiful journal, and an entire cute, white crate filled with new gifts the women had bought me! I was in shock and so touched by this! WOW! What a blessing!
white crate of gifts
the generous gifts
2018 planner, dip bowl, prayer note cards, bird deco
cute measuring bowls
hand-made blankets
coaster
I was just blown away by their generosity!
ladies at retreat
women at weekend retreat
The women were so sweet and made me feel so welcome. Several ladies came up after I spoke to thank me for sharing my testimony and said that it blessed them. Their theme for this retreat was A Chocolate Life Devotional by Deb Burma. I tailored my presentation to this, sharing my story and talking about God’s sweet grace.
me as keynote speaker
A Chocolate Life devotional
Here in the pictures below, the women are writing their thank you cards to Jesus for the blessings He has given them in their lives. The event planners, Carla and Kathy, put so much work, planning, and organization into this; I was so impressed! The ladies went through all of the devotionals in the book on Friday night and Saturday. It was a full weekend of teaching from Carla. And of course, there was LOTS of chocolate! (I brought some Dove chocolates for them, too.)
women writing thank you’s to Jesus
women at ladies’ retreat
teen girls
This beautiful lady, Jennifer, is the mom of two beautiful twin girls. Jennifer is a nurse at Saint Luke’s hospital in Overland Park, KS. I enjoyed talking with her and am so glad there were all ages there, including youth! They have a powerful testimony, almost dying at birth.
Jennifer and her twin daughters
These ladies, Kathy and Karen, are sisters, too. Karen bought my book on 8 women’s powerful stories of spiritual warfare, and greatly encouraged me about what I’d shared. Here we were outside, on the fun scavenger hunt. We looked up Bible verses for the clues.
Sisters Kathy & Karen on the scavenger hunt outside
This cute, little older lady is Fran. She chose to be my partner when we worked on the scavenger hunt. She was so sweet!
Fran
I always give away a gift bag when I speak at events, including a free copy of one of my books. In this gift bag I included my memoir, a pumpkin scented candle, and a cute orange notepad with a cat on the front, which read “Meow! Meow! Meow!” I asked God to help me pick the right woman to receive it and asked, “Who loves cats?”
gift bag for Paula
I chose Paula, who is in the pic below with me. She was so happy; she’d never won anything before. She has an orange cat named Garfield! God knew!
She blessed me so much, giving me a big hug. She also hand-made one of the beautiful blankets in the white crate gift!
me & Paula
The night before, it had stormed badly and there was even a tornado watch there at the retreat center, with the power going out a couple of times. But Sunday was a gorgeous fall day. The sunshine and cool weather were exhilirating!
It was a gorgeous fall day!
At the end of the retreat, each woman could choose a beautiful journal to take home.
journals
trust journal
I chose the one which had the scripture on love.
love journal
The Precious Blood Retreat Center is by a beautiful lake with a walking trail. It was so peaceful there. I was very impressed with the center, and contacted the staff today about possibly hosting my own ladies’ retreat there next spring or fall 2018. It has a building with a meeting room, a big kitchen and a dining room, numerous bedrooms upstairs and downstairs, bathrooms (including showers), and a washer and dryer room. BIG PLUS: it has a Keurig coffee maker and cups in the dining room, and Wi-fi!
retreat bedroom
writing desk in bedroom
Keurig coffee maker & cups
retreat lake
fountain
beautiful lake
I had a perfect ending to this event; I had chips and salsa and soft chicken tacos at a nearby Mexican restaurant!
chips and salsa
chicken tacos
It was such a blessing and privilege to meet Carla and all the ladies at this event and to speak there. If you are an event planner or know someone who needs a speaker for their women’s conference, retreat, or event, you can contact me here.
me, women’s retreat, Liberty, MO
