From the moment I stepped foot into the retreat house, I felt welcomed into the presence of the group I would spend the week with, into the presence of the Holy Spirit and, for the first time in a long time, into the presence of myself.

In no time at all, I was sitting on a pillow in the middle of the living room across from a GPC Minister and doing the work that God was calling me to do.

All I had to do was bring a willingness to feel whatever bubbled up from my center and process it in God’s presence. It was like my soul was speaking to me truth that always lived inside of me. I just hadn’t recognized it was there.

GPC has taught me that the same quiet place I found on my retreat and in my sessions is a place I can return to as often as I need to converse with myself in the presence of my creator - especially when everything in me wants to hide a problem from those around me and from my God. That's exactly the place that God wanted me to visit him during my opening to grace retreat. We did dream work, we created artwork, there was time for intentional quiet and reflection, and times for fun where we could just be.

It's hard to live life when you're in the middle of it. being invited into and feeling called to step out of all that I have been existing in and into the waiting arms of my savior and the women at this retreat was exactly what my soul needed. I needed rest. I needed quiet. I needed to disconnect from technology. I needed to learn how to tune in to the sacred rhythm that is built into all that surrounds us and lean into everything healthy, beautiful nutritious inspirational and God-given gifts of life.

Thank you for letting me share with you how GPC and opening to grace have impacted my life. God bless.

Katy Winslow, GPC participant