Indiana—If you missed the Indiana Women's Retreat at the beautiful Oakwood Inn in Syracuse, Ind., you will want to start planning now for next year's retreat. You missed friends getting together (some make it an annual event), mothers and daughters spending time together, sisters sharing, and in one case three generations of women coming together to pray, sing, laugh, relax, have fun, and enjoy each other, nature, and making new friends. Oh, the food was great too!

This year, more than 150 women came from all over Ind., and from Mich. and Ohio too. The guest speakers were the Micheff sisters: Brenda (Micheff) Walsh, host of Kid's Time on 3ABN, who shared many personal stories; Cinda (Micheff) Sanner, who talked about the gift of hospitality and gave well-received hints (“I can do that!” was overheard a lot.); and Linda (Micheff) Johnson, who gave encouragement to moms concerned about the life-paths their children have taken.

The Micheff sisters, who have sung together since they were young children, provided special music throughout the weekend. One of my favorite times all weekend was singing around the piano on Friday evening after the meeting.

A special offering is taken each year during the retreat. This year's offering was designated to benefit the children's ministry programming the Micheff sisters are involved with at 3ABN. Approximately $2,150 was contributed by those present.

It's wonderful to come apart and pray for family, friends, and loved ones, and to share our burdens, joys, and concerns with our sisters in Christ who experience the same trials we do on a daily basis.

So if you are a regular attendee of the annual women's retreat, praise the Lord! And if you haven't tried it I ask, “What are you waiting for?”

Start planning now for the 2005 retreat, to be held Sept. 23–25 in beautiful Brown County, Ind. You have almost a whole year to make plans to enjoy a special retreat with good friends—and with your Best Friend.

Sheri DeWitt, Indiana Conference news writer