Thanks to those who responded with paragraphs. Our own author, Saundra, wrote a piece that is so good I decided it would be Novembers newsletter. It is called Pearls Before Swine. I am so grateful to have someone so talented who loves to contribute. If you wrote testimonials I will use them in upcoming newsletters. Also, if you enjoy writing, please submit your creations. It may be used for the Blog spots on the site or as a newsletter. It can be about your experience after the retreat or another thing God has Inspired you to write. I cannot promise I will use everything submitted but I would love to see your writings and consider them. Keep them around 500 -800 words. NOW: I NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN. I am designing our very own journal. It will be full of the scriptures we use in the study, sayings and quotes. If you are like me you love to collect quotes and scriptures that touch your heart. If you would like some of them to appear in the journal would you share them with me? You can send as many as you want. Also, if you have some favorite lines that are in my books or said during the retreats you can include those. Ha…I forget what I write! So go through your notes and lets put together a masterpiece! Love you all!

I am writing my November newsletter. It starts with this: Have you ever been to a motivational presentation and left all pumped up and ready to change yourself and the world? Then real life crept in and like a tire with a slow leak, you lost the motivation and the message. After finishing eight retreats over an eight month period I contacted some of our attendees to see if there was a lasting impact. This is what they said: This is where you come in. Can you please write a paragraph or two on how the ministry has impacted your lives and other women you have ministered to?

Good morning all. Well, we have had our 8th retreat and it was the best ever…just like #1 - 7#! I met with someone yesterday from a ministry that houses sex trafficked girls and he asked if they could come up for a retreats. I was blown away. They would not be what you went through but would expose shame and of course love love love on these girls. So, can you pray for this with me? I’ll keep you posted.

Good morning all. Listening to David Jeremiah this morning and he is talking about his new book, Where Do We Go From Here? Here is his answer to the question, “As believers, how do we live in a world like this? His answer was: “We cannot live in lies. Let’s be honest. Sometimes as Christians we know what everybody is telling us isn’t true and we live in the midst of it like it’s o.k. We cannot do that. We have got to learn how to live in the truth.…We as Christians have to ask God to help us be set free by the truth and follow the truth.”

I have just visited the discussion board after a few months absence. I am humbled and thrilled at what God is doing with this ministry. I love hearing the updates on your personal life and the groups that you are leading. I cannot tell you how excited I am that the band of beggars is on the move. For such a time as this! Love you all.

Brenda sent this to me and I wanted to share it. Love to hear what the Lord is doing! I'm sorry I'm just now responding. Starting up a PC again is fun, scary and time consuming. I sent some pics in another email. Six of us came from CrossRoads Pregnancy Center, each of us paying our own way. Our experience at the retreat was life altering. We came to learn how to help our clients and were truly helped ourselves from past shame from our own traumatic past. We have used "Giving God Your Worst" with a group class and individually with clients and even friends. We also started "Parenting without Shame" with a group class that Marty is teaching and just yesterday one of the clients screenshot the chart listing Physical and Emotional needs saying she had never thought of needing emotional support to properly grow. This young lady has an especially hurtful past. I wish I could write eloquently and communicate how much the retreat meant and did for me personally but I don't think there is a word for it. Praying for all the future retreats this year. Marty and I watched the latest video on your website on sexual health by Pam S. We had no idea. It just blows my mind. I thought the 60's were bad. I was wondering if there was any way I could share this on our Facebook page. We will probably be playing it for a volunteer meeting. So informative and helps us recognize and relate to our clients. This will help us get to some core issues with them. Thank you so much my friend for listening to and obeying God and starting the retreat center and putting together these wonderful resources for us newbies. Love you, Brenda

Hey everyone. I have talked to a few of you and feel so encouraged by how your retreat experience is impacting your life. I would love to hear from more of you and this is the perfect forum. Please share your experiences as your lens clears and you share truth with others. Love you all. Dinah

Dinah here. I would love to hear how God has worked in your lives after the retreat.