I’ve never really liked women’s retreats.
I’m an introvert. Group settings can be hard for me. And honestly, most women’s events seem to want to tell me how to be a better woman.
Instagram and Pinterest do that just fine. 😉
But what if we did women’s retreats differently?
That’s what happened this weekend.
And I honestly can’t even tell you the amount of holy that was seen and felt by all of us.
Why?
Why did this feel so different?
Let me back up a little.
My husband and I have been on a journey into house church and the disciple-making mission Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28. We began to take those words seriously and intentionally changed what we thought, what we did, and what we taught.
We saw something in the Word that we couldn’t unsee and couldn’t undo:
We have to go and make disciples.
So when I was asked to be part of a women’s retreat, I asked, “Could we call this a retraining instead?”
Instead of focusing on Proverbs 31, or teaching women how to cook better, clean better, or simply be better…
Can we actually do what Jesus commanded us to do?
Because I wonder how different our churches, our homes, and our communities would look if we simply did what He told us to do.
From the moment I began sharing the training and tools I’ve learned from different networks, individuals, books, and—most importantly—the Word, something happened.
The Word became alive.
Hearts began to change.
The simplicity of the gospel—to go—began to move people to tears, repentance, prayer, and action.
Now hear me: I don’t have all the training exactly right. Sometimes my wording comes out differently. I’m still learning.
But the Word and the Spirit still respond because it isn’t ultimately about getting the method right.
It’s not about the network.
It’s not about the model.
It’s about Jesus.
Sharing Him so others can share Him.
I watched a group of leaders and women from one local church begin asking questions:
“Why isn’t this taught everywhere?”
“Why aren’t we learning this in our churches?”
“How do we take this back to our church?”
“How do we take this into our homes?”
My answer?
You just do.
If you have received Jesus freely, you already have everything you need for life and godliness.
And you have enough of Him to share with someone else.
Then the weekend ended with the leaders repenting and washing the feet of the women they felt called to disciple.
There was weeping.
Crying
Praying.
Repenting.
Responding to the Word.
Responding to the Holy Spirit.
I have never felt a more holy moment.
And I think something shifted in me this weekend.
I now see every retreat—women’s or men’s—as an opportunity to train, equip, release, and send people out to make disciples.
Not to make better church attendees.
Not to make better men or women.
But to make disciples who make disciples.
So, apparently…
I now love women’s retrains.
First published on Substack.
