Testimonies

When I first got to the silent retreat, I felt various emotions from excitement, nervousness, and homesick. The feeling that was strongest that first night was unworthiness. I was looking around the room with all these strong, faithful and poised women, I thought, “wow, do I even deserve to be here?” The negative thoughts and constant insecurity about my faith IQ really kicked in. Being alone with your thoughts, no distractions, can be scary. 
 
Then the bishop, along with the Holy Spirit, calmed all the negative that was rattling around in my head. Bishop reassured me that I am not alone, God is with me, and to enter into prayer of peace and calm. So, I did just that. I am not sure the exact moment in the first 24 hours I felt a transformation, but all of the sudden during prayer I heard these words: stop. Surrender. Melt. Be still. Trust. I felt so happy when I just surrendered to these words. I became so grateful and leaned into those words and how God loves us even our broken pieces, I felt so grounded with so much joy. 
 
Anytime during the silent retreat when I prayed with my head, which was often filled with a lot of requests and worry, I remembered the grace gift given me that first night and entered into just being with the Lord and praising Him and letting Him love me. 
 
My prayer and hope now is to flex this trust muscle more in my daily life by remembering and sharing this grace experience with others. I have been given a gift at this retreat that I will never forget and that has forever changed me. Thanks for starting this opportunity for women to grow closer to God. 

I wanted to share with you my thoughts on the days together with the sisters and other women. I've attended at least 6 silent retreats. The one last weekend had the most impact on me. There is no question, in my mind, it had to do with the sisters presenting. The material shared on being a woman, the beautiful women who presented it, and the grace of God were the reasons. 

Without question, I would attend another retreat with these sisters. Please consider offering another one at this facility. Please pass this along to Bishop Cozzens. No doubt he was instrumental in providing us with this opportunity. Thank you to the bishop, yourself, and the staff! 

While there are so many blessings from my time on retreat, by far the GRACE of SILENCE was so significant to me.
 
SILENCE to not just hear the Lord, but listen well.
SILENCE to just be with Jesus.
SILENCE to rest (physically & emotionally)
SILENCE to reflect on what He was revealing to me.
SILENCE to notice more of what God wanted to show me – even just walking around in the quiet outside
SILENCE to just be and not think or multitask
 
Additionally, based on what the Lord wanted to share with me – the reminder of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant pierced a deep place in my heart – right where the Lord needed to.  I have been praying daily asking for my heart to be like Mary’s – such a gentle and humble surrender in all circumstances