Journal Exercise to Complete at the End of Retreat

We just spent a lovely weekend right by Lake Tahoe. The weekend’s topic was an overview of  Boundaries and presented in a low-key, sensitive manner. One attendee said she enjoyed how the topic was shared without guilt. Me too.

I also liked the word picture that boundaries, like fences, should have a gate.

Boundaries are supposed to be able to “breathe,” to be like fences with a gate that can let the good in and the bad out. Individuals with walls for boundaries can let in neither bad nor good. No one touches them.

God designed our personal boundaries to have gates. We should have the freedom to enjoy safe relationships and to avoid destructive ones.”  (Boundaries by Dr. Cloud & Dr. Townsend, pp 52-53)

At the end of a retreat, class, or seminar, I like to evaluate the experience. This helps me to see what I learned and how to incorporate the learning into my life.

Below are some questions to ponder after your next retreat.

1. What were your expectations and hopes regarding the following: The topic  . . . Yourself . . . The ladies . . . God?
2. Were your expectations and hopes met in each of the four areas? Why or why not? How?
3. What one or two ideas made a great impact on you this weekend?  
4.  What will you do with this information? 
5.  Who will you share it with?

How did you answer the questions? What questions would you add?

 Related Posts

• Do these 3 Things to Get the Most From Retreat 
• Journal Exercise to Complete Before Retreat
• How Would You Evaluate a Retreat
• Retreat RSVP Postcard
• No Matter How Hard You Try, These 6 Things Will Not be at Women’s Retreat
• 10 Things You Won’t Find at CNC Women’s Retreat
• BINGO Your Way to Knowing Each Other Better
• 4 Assessments to Make Retreats Better
• Get Busy Making Some History With a Friend
• Three Things to Get a CNC Woman

Journal Exercise to Complete Before Retreat

Before I attend a retreat, seminar or class, I take a few minutes to write down my expectations. This helps me to be more focused during the event. I am going on a women’s retreat in a few days, I’ll be doing some thinking & writing.

What are my expectations and hopes regarding the following . . .

The topic (Boundaries)?

Myself?

 The ladies?

God?

Being intentional about my actions will help me receive some of the benefits I want from retreat. Below are some ideas.

Topic – What do I want to learn and use from this topic? When/where/with whom will I go over my notes from the sessions? Complete the Boundary Building . . . On Your Own pages? Talk with others? Journal?

Myself - What do I need? ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Quiet? Rest? Play? A listening ear?

Friendships – This weekend will I be making a new friend or deepening an existing relationship? During the free time? During meals? While driving to and from retreat? Will I spend some time playing? Asking questions and really listening to the answers? Sharing what’s on my heart?

God- What do I need from God – a Word of encouragement, direction, wisdom and/or healing?  When/where will I set aside time to spend reading, praying, journaling, being quiet?

We always have a booklet at retreat. It has notes from the sessions, resource pages, etc. The above questions will also be in the booklet so the ladies attending retreat will have the opportunity to answer the same questions.

What are some questions you’d ask yourself to get prepared for retreat?

Do These 3 Things to Get the Most from Retreat

Retreat is in a few days. For some this brings nothing but joy while others are a little nervous. Sometimes our nervousness can take away from the retreat experience. Following are 3 things you can do at retreat to maximize your time away.

1.  Set good boundaries.  Give yourself permission to take ownership of your choices, freedom and responsibilities this weekend.

• Be good to yourself. Get proper sleep and nutrition. Leave your to-do list and cell phone at home so that you can be present at each activity and take in the message for you. Be yourself. You are already accepted.
• Be true to yourself. If you need answers, pray, read your Bible, and/or talk with a wise woman. If you need space and quiet, don’t fill every moment with activity and people. If you need friendship, seek out someone to visit with during the free times. If you are hurting, cry and/or ask for prayer.

2.  Be flexible. Retreat is not a predictable, sterile mathematical formula. There will be glitches and changes in the program, in one another’s moods, and even in your own needs. These glitches and changes are not personal. Go with the flow. But do expect God the Father to do something in your life this weekend.

 3.  Take your “iron” wisely.  Proverbs 27:17 says, ‘Iron sharpens iron; so a [woman] sharpens the countenance of [her] friend [to show rage or worthy purpose].” The Amplified Bible

• Purposefully hang with one (or several) safe women this weekend.
• Find a prayer partner for the weekend.
• Get involved in the group events.
• Get to know each woman’s name and something about each one.
• Talk about what you are learning and thinking about with others.
• Keep confidences.
• Be gentle with one another’s feelings, needs and comments.

What would you add to this list?

How Would You Evaluate a Retreat?

I like evaluating  . . . programs, books, my life. The process helps me to think more clearly about the pros and cons. This is how I see what works, what doesn’t and most importantly how it can be done better.

What are some questions you’d use when evaluating a retreat? Why? Or what are some good questions you’ve answered?

Below are ones we’ve used at our retreats. Comments on these? 

1. What did you like most about retreat?
2. Which aspects of the program were most helpful?
3. Which aspects of the retreat were not helpful or should be done differently?
4. When did you experience God during the retreat?
5. When did you experience community during the retreat?

 

Retreat RSVP Postcard

Ladies, RSVP today. My daughter made this post card.

No Matter How Hard You Try, These 6 Things Will Not Be At Women’s Retreat June 5-7, 2009

Here you have it, 6 more things you won’t find at women’s retreat at Zephyr Point.

1.      Platitudes

2.      Plastic mattresses

3.      200 bff’s you’ll never see again

4.      Long walk to meeting room & dining facility

5.      Lingering smoke in your hair & clothes

6.      Perfect Women

Put this date on your calendar. Start saving (about $5 a week) for the Retreat cost of $155.00. Registration forms are coming in December.

Have any questions? Contact Susan  or Reggie at the church office.

 

What do you hope to not find at your women’s retreat?

10 Things You Won’t Find At CNC Women’s Retreat June 5-7, 2009

This Retreat won’t have a lot of things.

Which one or two of the following is your favorite to miss?

 

1. Perfect Women
2. KP or Cleaning Duties
3. Bunk beds
4. Pious Attitudes
5. 25 Cent Showers
6. Easy Answers
7.  Jam-Packed Schedule
8. Theology Nazis
9. Boring Speakers
10. Critical, Kill-Joy Women

These 10 missing things are great reasons to attend the Women’s Retreat at Zephyr Point. My favorite two to miss are Theology Nazis and KP/Cleaning Duties. One more, okay? I won’t miss a Jam-packed schedule either.

Retreat cost is $155.00. Registration forms will be available in December. The deposit is $77.50 or you can start making payments to hold your spot. You don’t need a registration form to turn in money now. Just be sure to put “women’s retreat payment” on the memo line of your check. 60 spots are available.

Let us know if you have any questions. You can contact me or Reggie at the church office.

We Just Came Back from Retreat – What Did You Learn? Let’s Share Our Stories

Retreat Learning Experiences

I always try to learn one thing from each retreat, conference, sermon, or class. More than that and I burn out, get to overwhelm and bury the whole learning experience. Why do I dig for the lone lesson? The following quote says it well:

There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience. ~Laurence J. Peter

Plus, it is in the learning experience that I hear from God. And I like hearing from God. Hearing what He wants me to learn. . . . How to grow. . . . Find that next step.

Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival.–W. Edwards Deming

This retreat was no exception. I learned. Not what I expected to learn though – like something about the spiritual disciplines. Actually it was more of an unlearning. And then a relearning.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.–Alvin Toffler

I am grateful that this Retreat weekend was a relatively calm experience. No major upheavals other than a lost notebook and being stuck in a handicapped elevator. Plenty of quiet, alone time to reflect, wrestle, and debate my thoughts and God’s thoughts.

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.–Willa Cather

And you, what did you learn? Before I spill my beans, gather yours and share. Then I will too. Let’s see if we can collect our stories, share them, discuss them, and learn/heal/love one another through this online experience.

Here are the guidelines . . . .

1. Write a post on your blog about a “learning experience” that is related to Retreat.
2. It can be in any format you choose: humour, pictorial, anecdotal, prose, serious, bullet form.
3. Post your entry at your blog. Then leave a comment here. If you don’t have a blog, submit your entry to susan2009 (at) gmail (dot) com. I’ll post it here for you.
4. After the deadline (July 5th) I’ll compile all the entries in one post.
5. Be sure to read all the entries and leave a comment.
6. Pass on this info to everyone who attended retreat. Wouldn’t it be FUN to have a bunch of us participating in this bloggy event? Who knows, our speaker may even participate, especially if we promise her socks, smiling faces, nods and the occasional wink.

Submission Deadline is 12 midnight July 5th, 2008.

Edited to add:

If you didn’t attend CNC’s Women’s 2008 Retreat, you can still participate in this group writing project. Simply write about what you learned at a retreat you attended.

Retreat Thoughts Still Swirling

Spending the weekend with 46 ladies in beautiful Lake Tahoe learning about spiritual disciplines was fun, challenging, growing, tiring, and worth every minute. The time away provided me with the opportunity to …

• Learn from 2 gifted communicators
• Engage in worship under the direction of a unified, talented team
• Hear others’ insights
• Laugh, worry, pray, and discuss
• Enhance my relationships

I came away with the idea that spiritual disciplines are relationship connectors. They help me to connect in a deeper, more meaningful way with God, myself and the community (called the church).

I came away with the idea that even though I am so flawed, God desires to and does work in and through me.

I came away with the idea that my girlfriends help keep me balanced through their reprimands, prayers, acceptance, and godly examples.

My thoughts are still swirling and will land soon. That’s when I’ll be able to assess what my next steps are.

I do know that I am so grateful for the time, energy and talent that so many ladies gave to make this retreat a success. In fact, I believe that includes each woman. Each woman gave something of herself to make this retreat a connecting time. Thank you all.

4 Assessments To Make Retreats More Meaningful

In 6 weeks about 50 women from church will be going to Women’s Retreat 2008 in the Tahoe area. In order to receive the most impact there and long term, I’m going to journal/assess 4 areas.

I’ll assess my relationships, the challenges/problems in my life, the Retreat experience and my follow up/accountability plan.

1. Assess my relationships. This will be in 3 areas: (a) God, (b) myself, (c) others. I will take the time to ask and honestly answer the following two questions in the three areas. (i) How’s my giving? (ii) How’s my receiving? I am purposefully making them broad categories so I don’t go into this pondering time with preconceived notions.
2. Assess the challenges/problems in my life. Again, I will do 3 things. (a) Look at what’s not working in my life. (b) Look at what’s working. (c) Brainstorm and pray (by myself or with a friend) about what to do next.
3. Assess the Retreat experience. (a) What are the golden nuggets of info that have impacted me? (b) What will I continue to do at home or start once I’m home? (c) These are some of my ideas from past retreats: include pampering in daily life; have planned meals instead of chaotic snacks; implement a flexible, fun schedule and follow it; more time in Nature; have more silent time.
4. Assess my follow up/accountability plan. Without such a plan, all my gold nuggets will turn into dust and puff away with the wind. Therefore, I will answer the following questions. (a) Who will I share my insights with? (b) What do I want her to do with/for me? (c) When will I talk to her?

I will also take time to create an evaluation card for my life. Every three months I will look at that card to see how I am doing. I will share these results with my accountability person.

So what’s your plan to make retreat more meaningful?