Report on Virginia Maiden's Quest Retreat

There's so much to share from our wonderful trip to Virginia last week! It was a special time of reunion with friends, ministry to young ladies, and basking in the beauty of God's creation. Here's a day-by-day description of all that happened, complete with the lovely pictures my sister took!

Wednesday:

Katelin and I flew to Richmond, Virginia, where we were picked up at the airport by our dear friends and retreat hosts, the Sadlers. We had met the Sadlers briefly 3 1/2 years ago at a mother/daughter tea in Virginia and experienced an instant connection. Ever since, I have kept up a steady correspondance with their daughters.

After several years of letter-writing, it was such a blessing to spend time with them in person! What radiant, delightful kindred spirits these precious friends are! Our reunion was a joyous occasion indeed.

The Sadler Family

(L-R) Steven (Mr. Sadler), Lila (9), Ellery (12), Leslie (Mrs. Sadler), Mia (6), Brittany (17), Hailey (15)

The following pictures give a glimpse of the lovely countryside surrounding the Sadlers' property in Gloucester where we were privileged to stay for five days.

After driving through such gorgous surroundings, we pulled into the Sadlers' driveway and saw...

their beautiful home...

the York river flowing at the edge of the backyard...

and the charming "pool house" where our MQ team stayed!

They did so much to make us feel so welcome!

We decided we had arrived at the official Maiden's Quest resort. :-)

Friends together again!

After dinner at the "big house" that evening, all the girls came back to the pool house with us for ice cream!

One of many beautiful sunsets

Thursday:

After morning exercise, we started our day off together with an official MQ pow-wow, determining which projects had yet to be attended and what the order of events would need to be.

Then, we spent time in prayer for the retreat.

Meanwhile, the tent crew arrived and began to set up.

The Sadler daughters proved to be a wonderful work team!

They helped with banquet details,

ironing for Katelin's table decor/napkin-folding class,

chair set-up, and countless other details!

So many helpers made for quick work!

Tara, Kelly, and Elizabeth arrived that afternoon causing the Maiden's Quest team to be altogether again for the first time since the Dallas retreat!

Since most of our work for the day was complete, and the sunshine just beckoned, we had a blast swimming together that afternoon.

Goofy girls :)

After a delicious dinner out at a Thai restaurant that evening, everyone joined together around the Sadler's kitchen table to work on final preparations for the retreat. We sang while we worked and had such fun praising the Lord together!

Stuffing folders...

Rolling silverware...

Kelly helping the little ones tie bows with pretty ribbon.

Friday:

The first day of the retreat dawned clear and bright! After months of prayer for beautiful weather and a cool breeze it was such a thrill to experience the Lord's specific answer to that specific prayer. We couldn't have asked for better weather! And the breeze made the summer temperatures very bearable. He truly does all things well!

70 chairs ready to go

Beautiful flowers to grace the tables

The picturesque "banquet hall" :)

Serving lines inside the pool house

This is the one lone picture I have of the actual retreat in full swing. The rest were taken by Kelly, our resident photographer, and turned out beautifully! (Those will eventually be posted to our Maiden's Quest website.)

Because of the Lord's great goodness, the retreat went wonderfully well! He answered so many prayers to make this retreat possible. He blessed everyone with safety in travel over many miles of road. (One family drove all the way from Massachusets!) He allowed all our electronic equipment to run perfectly without a glitch and He caused the whole weekend to run as smoothly as possible without one hurdle to jump over!

The girls who attended seemed to enjoy the whole event tremendously and many came to us throughout the retreat to tell us how encouraged they were in their walk with the Lord. I think many feel alone in the beliefs they hold and the paths they have chosen, so the fellowship and encouraging messages was just what they needed.

May the Lord's name be praised!

After the retreat was over on Saturday evening, Mr. Sadler took us out on his boat and we had a blast tubing down the river! It was the perfect way to end such a wonderful weekend together.

All of us girls at the end of the day

I am so grateful to the Lord for the gift of such a week in Virginia with such dear, dear friends. Saying goodbye was hard. The memories of our time together are ones that I will cherish forever. And the opportunity to minister the encouragement of Jesus to such precious young ladies was a joy.

I have come away from our time in Virginia so refreshed by the Lord. Throughout the whole experience, I felt the sunshine of His love poured out abundantly, and again learned the truth of the verse, "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think - to Him be glory."