Saturday, March 28, 2009

Tahoe

Last weekend was my first trip to South Lake Tahoe, NV and it was fabulous! The drive up there was gorgeous and coming down into Tahoe was amazing...however, the steep drop offs next to me...not so cool...

It was also the first time that I went to an overnight women's retreat for church. Aside from the grocery store, I don't think I've ever seen so much chocolate in one place!

There were 4 of us to a room in a little cabin and the first that I noticed - no TV. I thought it was 'weird', but then I realized why I was there in the first place. We were able to take in the sights at a ski resort called Heavenly and to also walk around our little area before dinner began. I took some pictures of the lake, mountains in the distance, and the sun setting - it was breath taking, to say the least.

Our Cabin


We spent Friday night in a worship service with 240 women, had small group time, and then played some games afterwards. Needless to say, it was late when we finished and even later before we went to bed. I think I ran on about 4.5 hours of sleep the first night....zzzzz....

Sunset


Saturday we got up for breakfast and hit the sermons again - the theme was called 'Wide Awake: Fulfilling your God Given Dreams'. You know me and how I love my dreams... well, this wasn't about the 'weird' dreams we have at night, but the dreams that God sets in our heart - those nagging feelings/ideas that won't go away no matter how you try to shake them. Circumstances arise where we're not able to reach our dreams, be it financially, the wrong timing (starting a family), and most commonly out of fear. We fear that we will fail and we fear that if we pursue our dream, it won't be what we dreamt.

Me at Sunrise


I actually learned a lot from the retreat and not only am I living my dream out right now by being in California, but I have had a dream placed on my heart since I was a child. Now I need to open my mind and my heart and try to pursue it. However, fear has set in.

Do you know we're born with two natural fears? Falling and loud noises. All other fears are learned (I learned to fear spiders after watching my mom jump around and blow on them before she killed them). So for any of us to fear stems from a 'lie' and it becomes a battle within our mind: False Evidence Appearing Real = FEAR.

Anyway, I attended three really good workshops, was fed really well, and loved the worship music and sermons that were spoken. Coming back to reality was hard though. You're in such a beautiful place, listening to women's stories, and reflecting on your own and then we all got puked back in to the real world really fast. But it was so worth it.

The last night we were there, it snowed. I hate snow. But for the record, it was beautiful. The pine trees were weighed down with it and for a second, it felt like home again. It was quiet, the wind was blowing, and then the sun would peek through for a brief time. It really was pretty.

Snow


Me in the snow


What is your dream? Does God have something placed on your heart? Dream big and let your light shine.

Mountains across the lake


Clearest water I've ever seen

1 comment:

Joan said...

Sounds like an awesome weekend. Thanks for the info on fears...very interesting.