Recently the women of my church had a half-day retreat up in Julian (a mountain community above San Diego). I got in my car Saturday morning to go pick up a friend, and it was totally dead! I had to call AAA to get it started and thus got a late start. We got there okay, but I hated to turn the engine off! What if the car didn’t start again and I couldn’t get home? Oh well, I left that with the Lord.
The event place had formerly been a large antique shop where I’d stopped many times when visiting Julian. It had been rearranged and our group of 45 was just the right amount to fill their meeting room. We were greeted by coffee and slices of Julian apple cake to start with, and had our first session. The theme was “Tangled or Tethered” and we had speakers on “Emotional Phases of a Woman’s Life,” Discipleship, and Prayer. When we broke for lunch after the first two sessions, we went past a charming pond with a waterfall and found round tables set outside, charmingly decorated. Turkey, ham or vegetarian sandwiches awaited us with potato or chicken noodle soup. It was all delicious. It was a day to get to know more ladies in our church.
After stuffing ourselves, we went back to the meeting room for the third session and found more coffee and platters of assorted cookies awaiting us. Of course I had to eat my favorite, oatmeal raisin. When the day ended at two, the ladies prayed for my car, my friend got a ride home with two other ladies, and I got in my car with a little trepidation. It started right up! I still had to drive to Spring Valley for my youngest son’s 51st birthday party and an hour and a half later, I got there with no problems. I ate some more, visited with the family and then once again, got in my car to drive home and all went well. It seemed the post where one attaches the cables for a charge was wobbly and needed to be “shimmed” up!! Got that done the next week and all is well. I am looking forward to another retreat with a group I know in May. Maybe I won’t eat so much??
