Retreats: Encouragement

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Your Ladies Retreat or Ladies Day is a perfect time and place to encourage your sisters.  Two big ways you can do that is through writing notes to each other during your day or weekend, and then through recognition of the blessings your ladies are for each other.

Combine these two ideas with your creative theme, and you have a double blessing! 

Writing Notes

 The two things you need when planning on sharing notes with each other is something to write on, and a way to deliver the notes. Depending on the size of your group some methods of each may be easier than others.

First, what you use to write the notes. You can decide how involved you want to get here.

  • Preprinted notecards - Use 3x5 cards with a ladies event logo and theme verse printed on it. For the Life is a Game theme, you can cut cardstock to the size of playing cards. You can also add note-writing cues like "You are an encouragement to me because ....".  These require a bit more prep, needing printing and cutting. Even still, they are a great little extra and a great keepsake. 

            Check the sidebar for a PDF you can use to create notecards for a couple of different themes.          

  • Memo pads - If you want to keep it simple, you can use a mini-memo book and just let them tear sheets out. These are usually inexpensive and require little to no prep. You can place a label on the front of our notebooks with the event logo on it. This is a great, functional take home item as well.

As for the delivery:

  • Gift bags with prepared name tags - This one takes a bit of planning, but having something with your ladies' names on it really lends of sense of your being excited and prepared for them being there. You can choose gift bags that matched your theme, either color wise or creative theme. You can print the name on cardstock and tie it with curly or silk ribbon
  • Blank lunch bags - This works great with the Holiness School theme. Use a blank lunch bag at each person's place, and have each gal write her name and decorate her bag with the markers and stickers you can also use to decorate the tables

Have  a separate table set up along the wall of your meeting room for the note bags, or store along the wall.  If you don't have the space for that, here are some other ideas.

  • Butcher Paper - A really fun way to encourage each other is to cover each table with butcher paper and allow everyone to write right on the tables! Part of the settling in time have everyone write their name on the space in front of their seat. During breaks encourage everyone to write notes on each other's spaces. 
  • Post-it Notes - A fun way to share little thoughts and encouragements is to provide several different stacks of sticky-notes. It is fun to write a quick note and slap it on someone's table, hide it in their Bible for later, or slap it on their back ;)

I have kept notes from several past years, and they still make me smile when I stumble upon them even now.

Courtney Kendall Steed

I'd love for you to join me at my blog, where I want to keep the encouragmeent and inspiration of my fellow sisters going. See you there!

Fresh Ideas:

Retreat
Themes
Encouragement
Silliness
Devotion
Extras

Files:

HSNotecard
File Size: 12 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
LGNotecard
File Size: 30 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Giving Recognition

Women of God are servants by design. So often the Good Work of our sisters in Christ is quiet, and hardly recognized by those they serve. Ladies Retreats and Ladies Days are wonderful opportunities to give some public credit. Again, there are few ways to do this and can be adapted for your theme.  Here are some ideas we have used.

  • The Hat Awards - This one words well with Clothed with Christ theme. The "award" is a hat of some sort.  Have your planning committee discuss beforehand the ladies who they would like to honor and find  hats that go with their reason for recognition. For example, have a jester's hat for the "silliest" gal, a crown for the "queen of the church office", a nurses/doctors cap for a lady who had been noted to be compassionate, etc. It is fun matching hats with people. And so fun to give out!
  • The Yearbook Awards - For the Holiness School theme you can give out awards like "Most Likely to be Put in Jail" and "Class Clown". Let the group nominate each other using a simple "ballot" early in the day. During lunch break one of the planners can count up the votes.  During the presentation, your "students" will be howling. This can be adapted in lots of ways to fit any number of themes. 
  • Their own words - One simple way to get everyone involved is to place preprinted cards on the tables with ques like, "______________________,  you reflect Christ for me..." Or, "________________________, you are an example of compassion because..."  Then,  collect the cards, then redistributed them to everyone in the group. Take time to read them aloud. Having someone else read something like that lends itself to a different feel, than if everyone just reads their own. Of course, this would work best with a smaller group. For a larger group, a few can be chosen to read aloud. Make sure to take the time to place those cards in the personalized gift bags or somehow given to the gals mentioned on the cards before closing out the day.

Be creative! There are lots of reasons to praise each other. Take the time to do it when you are together. It will bless all involved I promise!