Why the Apologia Live Retreat Was So Stinking Awesome

Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending Apologia Live in Austin. They had invited me (and a few other bloggers) to come attend so that we could come back and let you all know just how stinkin’ awesome it is.

Okay, they didn’t say that but I will. ; ) It was just so good.

Apologia Live is neither a conference nor a retreat,…it’s a little bit of both combined. The Apologia Live team ministers to, worships with, encourages, prays over and comes alongside homeschool moms. From talking to these women and listening to them speak, I see that they truly have a heart for homeschool moms. Their passion for homeschooling and their love of God also comes through when you listen to them speak.

What can you expect if you attend an Apologia Live retreat? First, you can expect chocolate! I don’t know if all the retreats get that much chocolate or if ours did because it was so small. (Seriously, Y’ALL… we gotta get the word out for next year to have a bigger turnout! EVEN if it means less chocolate!)

Secondly, you can expect encouraging speakers, lots of worship time and plenty of time for prayer. Rachel Carmen (wife of Apologia President, Davis Carmen) says: We spend a lot of time talking about how much we need to pray for our children and our homeschool… she wanted to make sure that this retreat actually gave moms time to pray, really pray. With two built in prayer times, I’d say Rachel’s goal has been well met. I came home with two pages full of things to pray for – both things to thank God for and things to give to God. In fact, I came home with so many pages of notes that I need to write a separate post about all the things that I learned, all the things that God spoke to my heart about while I was there.

Another thing you can expect is a refreshing little mini getaway! If you go with friends or family (and I hope you do) you’ll be able to enjoy a night away from home, in a nice little hotel, fellowshipping with friends (and maybe even some new friends that you make while you’re there,) enjoying food that you don’t have to cook and sleeping in a bed that you don’t have to make. =) It was nice to get away for a night. It was good to spend time with the blogging friends at my table, and the sweet homeschooling mom and her mother who sat at our table with us. I thoroughly enjoyed each speaker, every worship time and both prayer times. I ate so much food! I came back mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically full! What a blessing it was to be able to go.

And I’ll tell you what you won’t expect. You might not expect to connect with other homeschool moms whom you’ve never met but if you take the opportunity you can! You may not expect to get so much out of such a short retreat but believe me, you will! You might not expect to feel so immediately comfortable listening to the speakers, but God has blessed them — and you will! You may not expect to like to the worship and prayer time but if you pretend that nobody is there and watching and just relax in God and let Him work in your heart, you will.

And these are all the reasons that the Apologia Live Retreat was just so stinking awesome. These ladies really blessed me, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. If you have the opportunity to attend one of the remaining Live retreats this year, or if you can plan to attend one next year, I truly recommend it.

In fact, all of these pictures are taken with my cell phone (that’s why the quality is low on some of them.) I’m really sorry about that. But since my camera is acting up I sometimes have to mess with it and mess with it to get it to take a picture. The truth is that the retreat was SO full, SO good, SO interesting.. I didn’t want to stop to mess with my camera. I didn’t even pull it out. I just didn’t want to miss a thing. = )

Additional Links:

Apologia Live

Boasting In My Weakness

Devotion Mama

The Kindle Crew