Recovering Your Story Retreat, REGISTER NOW!

RECOVERING YOUR STORY INTENSIVE RETREAT,

CLICK TO SEE FLYER!

THREE SPOTS LEFT.  TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE.  REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  5 DAYS.
THE ONLY SNOW YOU’LL SEE IS THE SAND THAT LOOKS LIKE SNOW.  WARM DAYS, WONDERFUL WOMEN, A TRULY WILD STORY OF GRACE!

Pensacola Beach

IT’S TIME TO REGISTER.

I can’t say it strongly enough.  This retreat will change the way you think about your story.  The whole focus is on knowing God and living in the glorious freedom for which Christ set us free.  It is truly a really good story.  Come, join us,and find out why I say this!
If you haven’t registered yet, read the letter I just sent to those participating.  Please contact me using the contact form if you’d really like to come but it seems impossible!
Hello and Welcome –
To the Recovering Your Story intensive, April 15- 18, 2010.

I am so excited about the three and a half days, partly because the weather calls for WARM and NO CHANCE OF SNOW (we hopeJ!), but mostly because God has given me a dream of the many different ways He will work in you in the coming days.
Some of you will…

• think about your story for the first time ever.
• discover evidence of God’s grace you have never noticed before.
• reflect on wild twists and turns in your story in the past one to three years.
• name realities both tragic and redemptive in your stories.
• recognize your calling more clearly and move toward it more missionally.
  

The possibilities are endless, because we have an “impossible” God (and yes, sometimes I really do think, “God, you’re IMPOSSIBLE!”J!  God does impossible things, and He does possible things.  And this retreat will be a time to discover both.  I and others are already praying for each of you, and I look forward to seeing how God moves in very real and powerful ways.

Believe it or not, it’s already time to start planning.  Here’s a brief preview of where we are headed.  Beginning March 15, I will send weekly emails with preparatory reflection questions.  Some questions are designed for me to get to know you better before the retreat; others are for your reflection and prayer.  (Don’t worry, we’ll start with easy questions like, “What is your favorite ice cream flavor” and move on to the harder ones, like “What are your hopes/fears about the retreat?”) I will give you ideas about ways to get the most out of your investment, like how you might begin to keep a journal to record the stories leading up to, during, and after this retreat.

Some logistics regarding the actual retreat:

• Click this link to view the gorgeous Gulf front home we’ll stay in:  http://www.how2vacation.com/details.aspx?list_id=21281
• Please send me roommate preferences:  you will have one roommate unless you want more.
• Registration begins Thursday, April 15, at 4:00 p.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m.
• First gathering is dinner at 6:15.
• We will finish Sunday,  April 18, at 11:45 p.m. and we must be out by 1 p.m.
• All meals from dinner Thursday to breakfast Sunday are included in the price of your registration – we will feast well!
• Oh, and for those who haven’t paid in full yet, please remember the remainder of the fee is due March 15.  Thank you!
  

Finally, thank you to all of those who have invited friends to join you at this life-changing experience.  If you know someone who might benefit from a retreat like this, please pray for them and encourage them to sign up.  Currently I have 5 spots left with two scholarships available.  Registration ends MARCH 15. Please feel free to give them my number – I love to dream with women about how God can make the seemingly impossible possible!

That’s all for now. Please contact me by email or telephone if you have any questions.  I’ll be glad to help you any way I can.

By God’s grace, through his hope, and in his love,
Elizabeth

–
Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage
Living Story
www.livingstorygrace.com
You should know –

Some really cool women are coming to this retreat.  Great stories, luscious food, wild women, and the gorgeous Gulf Coast!

Oh, did I mention — a lifechanging retreat? (And don’t take my word for it, read some of the comments former attendees have made! (Scroll to the bottom of the page to read their responses.)

Let me mention two common reasons I hear from people who say they can’t attend:

1.  ”I don’t have enough time, I don’t have enough money.” You may be right, but you could be wrong.  I encourage you to look hard at your time and your money.

My hunch is you spend a lot of it caring for other people besides yourself.  We as women have a bad habit of putting soul care at the very bottom of our list when it comes to allocating the resources of time and money.  Transforming is a word many have used about their experience at this retreat.  If time and money are your arguments for not coming, I urge you to rethink.

2.  ”I don’t have a story.” I can really help you with this one:

The first good news — you DO have a story.  The second good news — this retreat is all about helping you learn it.  And if you know you have a story but hate your story, this retreat is about helping you look for redemption in it without forcing you to find it.

I may not know you, but I know some things about your story, because I know how God has written us.  And when I meet you, I will know more about your story.  I also know that God has written rescue and redemption into your life.  This retreat is about looking with others for the hidden clues to the lost treasure of your story.

If you’re really interested but still not totally convinced, or if you’re still saying there’s no way it will work financially, please contact me using the contact form.  I’d love to talk with you and pray with you and dream with you about how this might be a time God has reserved specially for you.

If you’re ready to register now, just click on the flyer and print it.  Fill in the registration form and send it to me.

These are things real women in Hot Springs, Arkansas said about this retreat:

What did you learn about yourself?

• I need to live in hope, not fear.
• It made me look deeply at myself and find redemption in my own story.
• I like and need to spend more time with women sharing my life.
• How important each story of my life is and what an integral part of the Christian life it is to share our stories with each other.
• How God has provided rescue for me in the past and how this builds my faith for the future.
• Exposed pride, allowed me to connect some dots with my fear of failure and idols of achievement.

What did you learn about your community?

• They are precious!  They walk with God through life, in ways I didn’t know.
• We are truly a community of grace!  We are honest and not wanting to hide but come out and be healed and restored!
• We all need each other – in the good and the bad – to rejoice and cry with.
• Everyone is dealing with something.
• They are trustworthy.  They are vulnerable. They are not as perfect as they seem.  There is nothing more beautiful than sharing our lives together.
• Our stories bring us closer to one another and to God.

What will you tell others about Elizabeth?

• I appreciate Elizabeth’s “realness”…her willingness to be one of the group and lead at the same time.
• I loved her search of Scripture and her insight into God’s Word.
• Her leadership and flexibility made this a safe, comfortable environment.  Her comments and insights into stories were given with discernment and grace.
• She is structured, which is great, but flexible, which is necessary.

What will you tell others about this retreat?

• It’s important to be with one another like this – so you can know and be known in community.
• It’s a tool for learning and living in real community!
• Life-changing, affirming, freeing us as we told our stories and saw God in one another.
• It is a holy time.  An experience of the community of Christ.
• It will be a life-changing experience for each person involved.