God is Your Protector

Today we heard from one of our North Dakota Godly Girlfriends, Heidi, with a story about her five year old warrior princess, Gracie: 

Girls! My 5 yr. old GRACIE told me about her day today - get this!!! 

She said "I played Godly Girlfriends at lunch today!" 

I asked, "How do you play that?"  

"Well, I stand on the slide and yell 'God is my protector' !"

On my gosh!! How precious is that???

My cup runneth over! 

I am constantly reminded of God's love through my girls. 

And to think that when I leave for retreats 

and such, that I think about my girls missing me, and I debate whether or not to go.

I realize that I am impacting 

them in ways I had no idea!!! I was so blown away with Gracie's game!! 

She told me, "The other girls play Monster High, Mom, but not me.

Sometimes I just play alone, but sometimes my friends join me."

Out of the mouth of a 5 year old! Spread the news!!

Godly Girlfriends is working and you are changing hearts!!! Young and old!

 Can't you just imagine Gracie all decked out in her pink armor (that is toboggan, gloves, jacket, and boots) standing firm at the top of the cold, icy slide, shaking her fist in that monster's face.
"I am NOT afraid! GOD is MY Protector. I will not FEAR!"

 What about us? What do we do when we stand at the top of this sometimes slippery slope called life? Can we shake our fist in the face of monsters who have names like fear, and disappointment, and rejection, and pain, and loss, and worry, and choose to play alone exhaling warmth from the bottom of our lungs, and yell as loud as we can, "GOD IS MY PROTECTOR".  And really believe it.

GOD. IS. MY. PROTECTOR.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior: my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. (Psalm 18;2)

Shout to the LORD, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy. (Psalm 98:4)

GOD IS YOUR PROTECTOR!

Thanks, Heidi, for sharing.

Make your plans to attend the next Godly Girlfriends Retreat. It's all about a Warrior Woman named, Deborah. And it's all about empowering us to know without a single doubt that 

God is our Protector

See you soon.

One Word Testimonies

The KING is ENTHRALLED with your Beauty

(Psalm 45:11)

 Godly Girlfriends Texas Retreat met at Beautiful Camp Butman, Merkel Texas for a Night with THE KING.

We have a few one word testimonies about the retreat.

Reunion

Sacrifice

Freedom

Re-filling

Blessed

Royalty

Enthralled

 Truth

Heartfelt

Moms & Daughters

Sisters

And More Sisters

Surrender

(Signing Class)

Victory

 Laughter

The Wrong King

 & 

The Lost Sister

Crafts

 and Shopping

What more could a girl ask for - 

shopping, crafting, laughing, eating, singing, dancing,  a sleep-over, and playing dress-up!

But more than anything, we heard over and over how our KING is enthralled, delighted, attracted, ravished, by our beauty. We heard and believed that we, like the orphan turned Queen Esther are also chosen for such a time as this. 

We believed that we are HIS princesses. 

We worshipped HIM. 

We spent time in HIS presence. 

And we surrendered to OUR KING.

Who is this KING OF GLORY?

 The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

(Psalm 24:8)

He is enthralled by YOUR beauty, too.

Godly Girlfriends North Dakota 2014

 In May of 2014, 29 Texas Godly Girlfriends in pink shirts boarded a silver eagle bound for North Dakota and joined me for the first annual Godly Girlfriend Retreat North Dakota.  These girls made lasting impressions everywhere they went, sharing the joy of Jesus and praying for folks. Denver International Airport may never be the same!

As north met south, new friendships were born, encouragement was dispensed like medicine for the soul, and God turned our ashes into beauty (provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3). And miracle of miracles, we were invited back!  See you soon, North Dakota!

GG's in North Dakota

Godly Girlfriends are heading to North Dakota in May.

Yee Haw!

I've attached some photos of the beautiful rustic chapel

at the Upper Missouri Ministries Campground

near Epping, N.D.,

which is about 15 miles from Williston.

The term "Missouri" comes from the Missouri River, which is nearby.

How about this beautiful stone fireplace,

located at the back of the chapel?

Sure hope we find a fire burning in it!

Sure hope we leave with a fire burning 

in us!

 Here's a view of the altar area, 

complete with a stained glass window.

For more pictures visit the 

Camp UMM website here.

Godly?

This is for you -you who wonder how we dare call ourselves "godly"

The first time I heard that term, "godly girlfriends", was at a week-end retreat.

I was sitting at the back of the room.  The speaker had encouraged us cherish, treasure, and grow our girlfriend relationships. I had known her for years. She is the Beauty for Ashes poster child. I had known her when she was going through the worst times imaginable and witnessed her victories. We had gone to church together and taught Sunday School together, but we hadn't had one-on-one time for a long time.  We were no longer in the same church. and we hadn't gone out to lunch together in maybe ever.

Then she dropped the bomb, "Will all my Godly Girlfriends please stand?"

Godly?  I am anything but godly.  I have a crazy busy stressful job that consumes too much of my time and energy.  I am in a storm of uncertainty, trials, temptations, and instability. I don't spend enough time in the Word or in God's presence.  Nope not me. We (the speaker and I) hadn't had a meaningful conversation in forever. No, I am not worthy to be considered her Godly Girlfriend - period.

Godly Girlfriends all over the room rose to their feet, but my tush stayed firmly planted in that plastic conference room chair. 

Merriam-Webster defines godly as divine, pious, devout. Synonyms are devout, holy, pious, religious, sainted, saintly.  Antonyms are faithless, godless, ungodly, unholy.  The definition for pious is reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship.  Synonyms for pious are constant, dedicated, devout, good, loyal, faithful, steadfast, steady, true.

Now for the test.  Am I godly?  Are you godly?  If you are the opposite of faithless, godless, ungodly, and unholy, then yes you are godly.  If you have a reverence for God and a devotion to His worship - then yes - you are godly. If you are dedicated, devout, good, loyal, faithful, steadfast, steady, or true, then yes, you are godly.  And yes, I am godly, also.

And, yes, she IS my Godly Girlfriend.

My Godly Girlfriend and I, along with many more Godly Girlfriends, have the great honor of serving together at the Texas Godly Girlfriends Retreat in just a few days.  We are so, so excited!  Then in May, we, Godly Girlfriends head to North Dakota for retreat number two.

See you there, my Godly Girlfriend!  See you there.

The Vision

Part of the vision of 

"Godly Girlfriends Retreats"

is Fun, Fellowship, and Freedom.

I found some pictures in an album titled "Girlfriends Weekend".

We had met at a San Angelo, Texas creek side cabin for some girl time.

We made t-shirts, visited a monastery, shopped for antiques,

ate lots of Mexican food, had coffee on the deck, and shared testimonies.

We sang, 

and we worshipped.

Melissa's Sunday morning devotional inspired us to

persevere and be the women God calls us to be.

And this picture in my computer file is titled 

"Godly Girlfriends".

We meet for lunch every Tuesday in Texas-

I only get to join them about 4 times a year.

We are a mixed bag

 (not to be confused with old bags)

of girls.

We are kind of an unlikely group of friends. 

We are from several different churches and denominations

but our oneness is in our love for Jesus.

Last summer, some of my North Dakota girlfriends,

(and one handsome guy)

met together at my house for

pot-luck lunch and crafts.

It was a fun day of getting to know each other better.  

(Looks like I have a thing about t-shirts!)

Seeing these pictures reminds me how important

it is for us women to connect with each other

for encouragement and support.

Maybe these girl gatherings are a little like

the quilting bees or canning sessions

of years gone by.

We just need each other.

You will, no doubt,

 see some of these faces at one (or both)

 of the upcoming retreats.

Be sure to go to the Vision tab on the web page

to read the full vision of the 

Godly Girlfriends Retreats.

See You There!

...there was a thought...

In the Beginning.....(Nathalie told us about)....there was just a thought.....

I still remember the moment...the AHA! moment.

 There we were at the Women of Faith Conference, seated on the floor near the stage with the speakers and singers and special guests.  We watched up close.  We watched their comings and goings. They were beautiful and extremely talented.  They had written books and recorded songs, but they were still just women.  Just like us.  Kathy Trocolli's feet hurt, Nicole C. Mullen had sewn her own clothes, Nicole Johnson appeared to be 8 3/4 months pregnant, Chonda Pierce was still raw from a breakdown, and Sandy Patti looked tired.  God used them all mightily, because they were willing servants.

As we sat taking it all in, I remember thinking and saying and discussing all weekend, "We can do this.  WE can DO this! We have everything they have." And we did.  And we do.  And not just us who were together for that event, but all of us on this team.  We have it all - speakers, and singers, and comedians, and dancers, and servants, and moms, and wives, and ....women whose hearts are HIS.

Having years and years of various retreat and conference ministry experience doesn't particularly make us good, but it does make us experienced.  We've seen the need for women to get away, to be together, and to be with God.  We've seen what a difference it makes.  And we love the whole retreat concept.

So that seed that was planted in some hearts that weekend in 2007, has been watered, and sprouted, and grown, and weeded, and pruned, and now it's matured and is ready to bear fruit.

Girlfriends ~ get ready for the harvest!