That is the only word is can think of to describe this past weekend. I had a snapshot moment in life that I will look back on forever. I experienced one of the truest forms of community with three other women and I came home refreshed, revived, and loved on in more ways than I could have dreamed.
I went to Denver this past weekend with a friend from San Francisco and two friends from the South Bay. The funny thing is that we all know each other from church in the South Bay and yet while Joy and I lived there the four of us never really hung out. We briefly saw each other about six months ago and I had such a great time that I asked them if they would want to go to Denver for the Women of Faith conference. I was pushing for Denver because Beth Moore was doing the Pre-Conference and it is impossible to listen to her teaching without be blessed beyond measure.
And blessed we were. We all walked away with a lot to process.
Friday evening my "cheese factor" won out and we had dinner at the former Real World Denver house. IT WAS AMAZING! It was swanky and we sat in a booth that had gauzy curtains that the waiter had to pull back to serve us. We had the best mini-burgers I ever tasted. If you are ever in Denver go to Theorie in LoDo and have a rib-eye burger or a kobe beef burger.
After dinner we skipped the college scene next to the old house and headed across the street to Tavern on Market to go dancing. I can't even say this was the best part of the weekend because the whole weekend rocked, but for me personally I can't remember the last time I felt that free and alive. The DJ played some great songs and we could hardly pull ourselves away. Let's just say that if the husbands could have seen us they would have been dyin'.
Saturday we ordered the most expensive oatmeal on the face of the earth from room service and then we were treated to a personal training session by Joy. It felt great to sweat and even better to have a pro giving me some exercises to get rid of the deflated baby tire around my middle. After that we headed to lunch with Joy's brother, Chad and his wife Heather, and I continued my walk down Real World Memory Lane. It was exhilarating to be sitting on a rooftop patio in LoDo drinking beer and eating bar food. With full stomachs we headed back to the hotel because Joy and Cassie were scheduled to go have massages and facials. Stacy and I opted out and instead each took some time to hang out with God. Stace fired up Joy's IPOD and hung out by the spa and I took a solo excursion to Larimer Square. It made me a little bit giddy. The tall brick buildings that were over 100 years old and a street side cafe with a barista who made me her own special coffee yummy somethin-somethin. All I know is that it had Espresso, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon and some other good stuffy. I sat at a sidewalk table and listened to music and journaled for almost two hours. I literally had to pull myself away, but I didn't want Stace to start worrying. Once I got back to the hotel, I stopped in the bar to have a beer and catch up on the football games. I don't think I had ever sat by myself in a bar before. Granted it was a hotel bar, but it was still a little bit empowering. As many of you may know the scores were less than promising and it put me in a not so good mood. So, I texted Stacy and we planned to meet at the 27th floor of the the hotel in the lounge to watch the sun set. Neither one of us were prepared for the breathtaking view of the entire city. It was glorious. I didn't necessarily need it to be glorious because I clearly fell in love with this city before Saturday but it brought tears to my eyes. Ten months ago I had never been to Denver and this past weekend was my third trip there. There is a little piece of me that feels like it is a home base; a place of safety. So, Stace and I met, had a heart-wrenching talk in which she forced me to be honest with myself about some stuff, waited for the other two to arrive and then the four of us stayed there until past 9pm. We affirmed one another and shared how God has been so close to us in the deepest of valleys this past year. The affirmations were almost too hard to handle. It is tough to sit and listen to people you love and respect so much build you up. I felt like such a fraud and yet I knew that these women knew me incredibly well and that my "mask" never made it to Denver. I allowed myself to be known by them and they still thought great things about me!
So that is pretty much it. We stayed until Sunday afternoon, but Joy left early that morning and Stacy, Cassie , and I just wound things up. We prayed together and left the hotel and weekend ready to come back to our lives as mommies and wives. I felt like there was nothing unfinished about the weekend at all. Never in my life did I know that relationships with women could be like this. There was no drama and jealousy. There was no judgment and no criticism. There was simply love between four daughters of Christ who relished in a moment to bask in His glory.
