On a windy day we drove to the lodge located on one of the few hills in North Dakota for our women’s retreat April 8-10. We enjoyed tasty meals prepared by ladies from our local churches; worship songs sung in one accord; instruction from the Word to transform our hearts; testimonies of women on how the Lord is seeing them through; a special of “How Great Thou Art,” sung while looking out at God’s creation; and other activities.
Mary Jean Knoll gave context of our key verse (Ezekiel 36:26). Using a list of names and attributes of God, she led us in discussions of who God is, finding our identity in Christ, and understanding God’s love for us.
We arrived on a dry spring day and left on a rain-soaked morning. It paired well with our arriving with stony hearts from the world and its troubles and leaving with hearts of flesh as soft and fresh as the morning rain.
— Stephanie Kalinowski
