Seaside Escape

 This weekend my church’s mom’s group had a retreat down at the beach. We had a lovely bed and breakfast for sleeping and meals-and a cook from church.

 We also had a beautiful historic hall for our meetings. It was a beach theme called Seaside Escape. I helped with the decorating and I did a great job, if I do say so myself. 

Pics (using iPhone instagram effects/app)

Centerpieces (there we didn’t do, they were already there)

Tables, on top was sea glass and shells 

close up

Some of the women

The speaker’s platform/stage

I got there on Friday morning to set up and then dinner started at 5:30, and our first session started at 7:00. We then had sessions Saturday until the afternoon, then free time, then evening sessions and one more session on Sunday morning. 

IT WAS AWESOME. 

Two women from church played for worship and they were amazing. We had about 26 women there total. 

I presented two of the sessions. 

My soul and heart were recharged. In my small group I even shared some things and got prayer for some things that were weighing me down but I had never told anyone before. 

It truly was a great time of worship, prayer, Bible study, laughing (LOTS of laughing), crying (lots of that too!) and enjoying the beach town. 

Plus, you know, having almost the entire weekend responsible for no one but myself. Glorious things like sleeping late (8:00 a.m., which is late for me!), sleeping 8 hours uninterrupted, having time to actually READ uninterrupted and so on. 

I really got a chance to find me again. I know my mom readers will get that. We all love being wives and mothers but sometimes we lose who we are in that. We are Mrs. So-and-So or So-and-So’s mommy. We give and give all day and often into the night. 

We sacrifice a lot. Careers. Time. Sleep. Material wants. Clean homes 🙂

Being a wife and mother is being a 24/7 servant and there is nothing wrong with that….however, we all need time to step away for a few days and just be. 

I felt like I discovered Annie again, not Art’s wife or Lexi’s mom, but just me. 

It was thrilling. And on the way home, blasting my music in the car because I didn’t have my kid with me, I started to feel a little down. I knew that as soon as I walked in that door there would be a million little things that needed me to snap into wife/mommy mode again. 

When I walked in the door, Lexi was having a meltdown because she missed me and Art was trying to calm her down. I picked Lexi up and she, sobbing, said, "Don’t go to retreat again. Don’t go so far away. I wanted you."

I knew this was her managing her emotions and I also know its ultimately good for her to learn to be away from me AND to learn to deal with these feelings-because life is going to hand her more. But it still broke my heart!

So, it was like a rude awakening! Almost 3 days of bliss and quiet reflection and then, BAM, I walk home into a crying child and a frustrated husband who asks what we were going to do for dinner. 

When I was single and then married with no kids, I used to moan and groan about being married/having kids. 

And, of course I wouldn’t change anything about my life right now, I now realize that I should have cherished those times more. 

So, my single readers, or married no kids readers, CHERISH  your time. You will be married/have kids one day and you will look back on these days with longing. Enjoy them while you have them!