A Royal Retreat

We just finished a short overnight women's retreat here in Arua for our women's Bible study group. We've been studying the book of Esther,

so the retreat was themed around Royalty.

Being little girls at heart, we all 'dressed up' like queens in our royal best...for some of us this meant buying 'ball gowns' for $5 at the local second hand market.




These are the "Gold and Turquoise Girls"












For me...it meant wearing the changing dress that I wore at my wedding 10 years ago!

Yes, my hips are a bit wider and I've got lots more jiggly flesh,
but it all fit into that dress and it wasn't even too snug!
So that was already a big ego boost!

Me and Pam...the Blue Girls

We are all the "U.S. Passport holders"

Me and Cheryl

Joanna Coppedge
Our retreat leader

One of the pages that Joanna had put in our retreat package was titled A Royal Decree, and I just wanted to share it with you:

A Royal Decree

My Vow
Whatsoever Thou sayest unto me, by Thy grace I will do it.

My Constraint
Thy love, O Christ, my Lord.

My Confidence
Thou art able to keep that which I have committed unto Thee.

My Joy
To do Thy will, O God.

My Discipline
That which I would not choose, but which Thy love appoints.

My Prayer
Conform my will to Thine.

My Motto
Love to live: Live to love.

My Portion
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.

If I were to get another tattoo...

I would want to get that motto tattooed somewhere

(don't ask where)

Love to live: Live to love

What a goal...to rejoice in the life God has given me, and spend that life loving others. Oh that God would saturate me with His love that I couldn't NOT overflow it to others.

I have no greater wish, right now,
than to have
God's heart of love.