The Queen asked that I share the latest retreat I took part in, and we all know that what the Queen demands, da Queen gets.......so for those who are interested...

The topic for this one was "Forgiveness". I think we had over 30 people turn out for it. We had a Christian psychologist/counsellor lead the workshop. He turned out to be awesome. He "spoke" to everyone, not lectured. He just sat at the front and engaged the entire group in discussions around Forgiveness - what are the myths of forgiveness, why does God say that unless we have forgiven our neighbour we can't receive forgiveness, does forgiving mean forgetting - all sorts of stuff. He was funny and down to earth and the time flew by quite quickly. I couldn't help thinking of so many I knew that could benefit from a day like this, but all in its own time I guess.

I had to come up with an activity to fill a 45 minute blank time slot. So I created a "scavenger/easter egg hunt". I hid a few eggs around the church, divide everyone into groups, give each group a set of clues and had them look for one egg each. Inside each egg was a scripture reading and a symbol of Easter (i.e palm leaf, nail, etc...). Then each group had to come up with a picture/prayer/song/poem/skit relating to their symbol and what they felt about it, then present that to the rest........

The scavenger hunt also went well. Seemed like everyone had fun with it, and they were so creative with what they presented - we had skits and songs and pictures all done in a very short time frame.

The downside to having an activity turn out well, is that you get roped into more......anyone have a good recipe for roast lamb for a traditional Seder Supper?????

Hi Evie

Sounds like a wonderful weekend.
I've read a lot of stuff on forgiveness by a writer called Stephanie Dowrick and found it very helpful. The trouble is for me, how to keep on forgiving the same person over and over for the same things without running out of forgiveness...I know, 70 x 7 and all that...but did your retreat give any new insights into that?

Hi Evie, and I have the same exact question as Julie about forgiving the same person over and over again for the same thing. You know there's a saying: (F--k with me once shame on you, F--k with me twice then its shame on me.) What about many, many, times. Oh the person is always so sorry and can even muster a tear or two but not long after that BANG, you get it again. Don't even Christians have a breaking point? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" />

EVIE; I read the request for Roast Lamb recipe and just for the heck of it typed it into my search mode and honey, at least a couple dozen recipes for all kind of roast lamb popped up. Just type, ROAST LAMB RECIPES in and hit search.....Land slide of culinary delights. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" />

Re - the forgiving the same person over and over again - here are some of the insights we came up with in the workshop

- forgiveness is a process - you keep working on it - if you are remembering the offence and need to forgive that person again, you do.....
- does forgiveness make a wrong, right? - No - it also doesn't mean you continue to put yourself in the same situation over and over again - we need to establish healthy boundaries and no when those boundaries have been broken - you can forgive, let go and move on
- can we run out of forgiveness? I don't think so - how many times has God forgiven us?

again, these are just some of the insights we discussed, not black and white rules....

I like the concept that forgiveness is a process -and we continue to work on it - I'm not perfect, I'm not going to get it right the first time...

You are right, no one can forgive perfectly except God. When I feel I have run out of forgiveness for other people, I need to ask Him to fill up my reserves and supply the forgiveness that I then extend to other people...it comes from Him not me...