WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO GET OUT OF THIS RETREAT?

Before you attend a retreat, please take the time to think about where you are in need of spiritual encouragement and nourishment. Spend time in prayer and ask God to reveal Himself to you, as He alone is the source of our strength, wisdom, understanding. Come ready to be filled.

GET HONEST

This is going to get personal, but it will be worth it. We will be dealing with the very things that make you, you. God wants to do something with those things. But until we recognize that we are made to run a race all our own, we will miss what He has for us. Be honest with yourself and honest with God. He knows all of it anyway.

ENGAGE WITH THE GROUP

An important part of personal growth is community. We are going to deal with the way we view God and how we are to spend our lives individually for Him You may even need time outside of the small group to process with others your passions and gifts and purposes. Be intentional to pursue deeper conversations with others through this process.

GROUND RULES FOR GROUP DISCUSSION

BE CONCISE.

Share your answers to the questions while protecting others time for sharing. Be thoughtful. Don’t be afraid to share with the group, but try not to dominate the conversation.

KEEP GROUP MEMBERS STORIES CONFIDENTIAL

Many things your group members share are things they are choosing to share with you, not with your husband or other friends. Protect each other by not allowing anything shared in the group to leave the group.

RELY ON SCRIPTURE FOR TRUTH

We are prone to use conventional, worldly wisdom as truth. While there is value in that, this is not the place. If you feel led to respond, please only respond with God’s truth and Word, not “advice.”

NO COUNSELING

Protect the group by not directing all attention on solving one person’s problem. This is the place for confessing and discovery and applying truth together as a group. Your group leader will be able to direct you to more help outside the group time if you need it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

STUDY DESIGN

There is no cookie cutter approach to Dancing With Elephants retreats. Some are a book study approach where you will be given the material to read before you attend and then at the retreat we will discuss lessons learned and application and encouragement for each other. Some will contain in-person teaching or video teaching with time for private personal study followed by group discussion time.

By design, each retreat will be very interactive. Interactive between you and God involving you, your Bible and a pen, working through Scriptures and listening to God’s voice. Each session will conclude with projects you can do to help you further process how to live God’s Word.

The goal of each study is to dig deeply into Scripture and discover how it applies to your life, to deeply engage the mind and the heart. Projects, stories and Bible Study all play a role in the retreat.

When you register for your retreat, you will be provided the format for the retreat and the study materials. If they are needed before the beginning of the retreat, they will be sent to you.