I snapped this photo on Monday morning. We had a lunch at our home for potential Deacons/Care Team members on Sunday after church, and one of our guests brought me a bouquet of flowers. It was the perfect opportunity to use these tiny vases which my friend Deborah sent me for my birthday.  They’ve just been sitting there waiting to be filled with something alive and green.

But alive and green things still have to be purchased at the local florist or grocery store here, as you can see, and I was resisting that requirement. What I really wanted to do was cut a few baby fern sprays from my front yard, or pick something wild along the bike trail on a morning run. Better yet, take some bluebonnet photos along the highways and byways of Texas. The treadmill at Planet Fitness offers no such delight. At least it’s not Wisconsin.

I wrote spring in quotation marks above, because technically we are in the season of spring, but what I’ve observed in my 19 years of living in New England is that a full-blown, green and blooming spring doesn’t happen here until Mother’s Day. Leah’s flowers and Deborah’s vases are at least providing the hope of spring. I texted the photo to Deborah to tell her that.

Our women’s retreat happened a week and a half ago, and we had snow then as well, but thankfully not 18 inches like last year. And Saturday of the retreat, after the Friday snow, was truly glorious. It was perfect for an afternoon hike or run during our free time.

Some of you gave scholarship money in order to help women attend the retreat, and I wanted to thank you. Hopefully you’ll get a little note in the mail today from a young woman who benefitted from that. They were so grateful, and they expressed to me over and over how much the retreat meant to them.  Thank you for being a part of that.

There were about 60 of us gathered that weekend, and we did everything from playing reverse charades, painting nails, and eating chocolate to worshipping the Lord through song, hearing very personal stories of God’s goodness through trial, and learning about our identity in Christ from Philippians 3. It was the full gamut and truly meaningful, all of it.

Kori was an incredible speaker. On Friday she taught on the Prodigal Son from Luke 15 and wove in her own testimony, likening herself to the younger son who squandered his inheritance with reckless and immoral living. Kori’s story involves a broken home, the early deaths of loved ones, drug addiction and dealing, promiscuous sex, anorexia, violence, and more. Honestly, hearing her heartbreaking story again made her ability to teach and exhort women in the Scriptures all that more powerful.

God is truly able to redeem and restore. She was living proof to us.A total throwback, she used Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner to illustrate Paul’s words in Philippians 3: 12-14:

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The “how’s” of reaching the prize had everything to do with devoting ourselves to the Scriptures, submitting ourselves to discipleship by older women, and willingly discipling younger women – not matter what age you are.

I think God answered our (women’s ministry team) prayers for strengthened faith, deepened fellowship, laughter, rest, and above all, for women to be grounded more so in their true identity than in the things of the world – for them to be found only in Christ.

We offered some breakout sessions on Saturday, which I think were helpful and enjoyable. Here were the alliterative titles:

Sacred Studies (Honoring God as a student and through coursework)

Deepened Devotions (How to spend time with God, read Scripture, pray)

Sanctified Singleness (Seeing and submitting to the calling/season as a gift)

Missional Motherhood (Cultivating a long-view vision for your kids/mothering, resting in grace over guilt)

The one I led was Missional Motherhood. I’ve been thinking about that topic for quite a while now, and am still thinking and pondering over the prioritization of motherhood and the biblical stewardship of children. So, I think I’ll plan to come back next week with a series of posts springing from that short seminar.

But on Friday, I’ll try and be here (Lord willing) with some Friday Favorites. Favorite podcasts? Favorite “mother-of-the-groom” dresses so far? Favorite Instagram follows? Favorite quotes from the John Calvin book Robert gifted me after the T4G conference last week? I don’t know what to choose.

Oh, also on Friday…the Krumrey Airbnb opens up. We’ve been planning this for months. There’s now a full bathroom and queen sized bed in my basement, which is where we’ll live while we have guests. I’ve been washing sheets and towels and making beds and buying supplies on Amazon. I listed our place on Airbnb on Monday night, and we’re already booked every single weekend through May – with one booking in June and one in July. Whew.

We’re hoping to bless each guest that comes through our doors (parents and a 17 year old potential UMass student this weekend) with warm hospitality, and steward any extra income for Kory’s summer wedding and helping our kids pay off their college loans. You would pray that God strengthens us for the task.

See you Friday!