retreat into luxury

Also in May...I went to a ladies retreat put on my my church. It was very lovely. We stayed at Embassy Suites. We were pampered there. Breakfasts with made-to-order omelets. A catered lunch. Angel hair pasta. Angel hair pasta is my favorite. A daily snack bar with chips and salsa. I really like both of those things. Hmmm. Food seems to have been a highlight from the retreat...could I be pregnant!? ;)

We went to the Cheesecake Factory. Those of you who know me will think, "Rachel! You mean to say you entered dairy territory of your own free will? Rachel, do you realize that the word "cheesecake" begins with the word "cheese"? What were you thinking?"
I do realize the dangers that faced me in that place, and that in a moment of weakness I could have risked an allergic reaction of epic proportions, but I ordered a dairy free smoothie and shivered through the night, safe from the dairy monster.
Above is the ceiling of the Cheesecake Factory & I thought it impressive.

I didn't take so many pictures from the weekend, so here's one of the only good ones I can find of Tiffany (center), Robin (right), and me.

On a different non-food plane, during this retreat I had the opportunity to co-teach a workshop with my friend Sherri. Sherri is a spiritual mama, she loves to cook (YES!!!), she loves to pray, she loves her husband, loves her kids, loves being a grandma, and she asked me to co-teach with her at this retreat! What!? The timing of her asking me to do this was really something. I had just finished completing a spiritual gifts assessment & much to my chagrin I scored the highest in the gift of teaching. I use the word "chagrin" because of my dismay to discover this, having avoided the teaching avenue because of my desire to be different from my parents, my sisters, my aunts, who all teach. But Sherri approached me & I thought it might be a providential opportunity to exercise my so-far ill used gift. Our topic was investing in others. When the time came for me to present my piece of our subject at the retreat, I went through my notes as best as I could, but faltered. Sherri had shared before me and during her part she called out to individual women and encouraged them with something specific God had given her for them. It moved me to witness the Father's love for his daughters in this way; hearing Sherri speak encouraging things to women who soaked it up like daughters enraptured by their Daddy, hungry for His attention, really moved me & I was a potential mess when it was my turn. I think it went well, despite my croaky voice, and I spoke what God had been giving to me, so I'd say it was a good learning experience & we'll see where this teaching thing goes. I'm not going to be adverse to it anymore. (And thanks, Erin, for your pep talk about this.)

And to wrap up, here's my fun friend Anne, (another of the few pictures I took), wearing a hot pink suit I told her to put on in the middle of the store. She was buying hot pink shoes that matched, so how could I let her get by without this?