At the end of February, Deaconess Michele Doel and Dionne Lovstad-Jones led a retreat for the women of St. John’s. 34 women were able to attend the retreat, which took place in the Chapel, with lavender decor throughout the space to echo the theme of the day.

The retreat was titled “The Lavender of Life in the Lord”. The ladies studied how the world was broken by sin, how we can name our brokenness in order to hand it over to God in prayer, and how we can be resilient in our faith. They ended the day by discussing how we continue to live in hope despite the difficult times of life. The ladies received various items to help their Bible journaling, and the materials for the retreat were printed inside notebooks with various designs that the ladies setup to use as prayer journals.

Deaconess Michele led conversations on Scripture and how it applies to our lives. Each table had time to dive into more examples of faith from the pages of Scripture as well. Throughout the day attendees were given time to reflect and journal privately on how the topics applied to their own lives so they could take their thoughts and concerns to God in prayer. 

Dionne led the ladies in a hands-on lament prayer. It was a wonderful time of personal reflection and prayer. It also taught a skill that the ladies can use as it provides a tangible method of taking concerns to God and leaving the stresses in God’s hands. Other tools for building up one’s prayer life that were both taught and practiced throughout the day included: Lectio Divina, breath prayers, and Luther’s guide for journaling through Scripture.

The day ended with worship and the closing hymn was written just for this event, to help reflect on the themes and lessons studied throughout the day. (The song is shared among the photos at the bottom of this page, if you’d like to read through the lyrics.) It was a wonderful day of fellowship, mutual support, and learning who God is from His Word. It was amazing to see so many ladies able to take part in the day together!