2022 Creative Retreats Announcement...
We are so ready to announce TWO new Art & Faith Creative Retreats with you today!
(and share a little about our Italy Retreat too…)
Yes, we’re headed to Vail, Colorado this summer and we can’t wait to enjoy this place with you!
If you follow us on social media, you know how much we LOVE Vail, Colorado! It’s a place we’ve come to explore and fall in love with ever since we moved to Colorado in 2018. It’s a year round mountain town that’s filled with the charm of Europe, (probably why we love it so much) and in the summer months it’s lush green valleys and mountains are the perfect place to enjoy outdoor activities like biking, hiking, fishing… or just getting up early for a walk to the river that runs through the town to sit in stillness with God’s Word. Vail also has some of the best restaurants in the mountains and gorgeous streets filled with cute shops. I promise if you join us, you will fall in love with Vail too!
We’re excited to bring back our retreats this year after a 2 year break due to the pandemic. I know it’s been hard for all of us to put our travels on hold, but the world is opening up and we are so thrilled to gather with you again. We will always desire to host our retreats in Europe, but we also know that it’s time to start doing more here in the U.S.
Vail in the summer is one of the most beautiful times to be up in the mountains of Colorado… So, we’ve decided why not host a 5 night/6 day Art & Faith Creative Retreat in one of our favorite places in Colorado?! This retreat will be July 27 - August 1st, 2022.
You can find out all the details and register for this retreat on our Creative Retreat Page.
This retreat will be a small gathering of women who have a desire to be creative through art and our faith. Our heart for this kind of fellowship with women of faith comes from Hebrews 10:24-25, our inspiration for our retreats, which encourages us to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forgetting to gather together, but encouraging one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching. (Paraphrased from the NKJV)
This has been the reason for our retreats from the beginning, so it is with that desire we aim to make our retreats not only beautiful, but biblically sound. Our goal is to bring you a to a place where you can step away from the busyness of life, be encouraged in God’s Word, be inspired by the beauty of His Creation, and find purpose through the art we create.
You can scroll to the bottom to find out our “Theme for the Year” and what we have in story for our retreats!
2. We are so thrilled to be back in Woodstock, Vermont this Fall again!
I know it’s still winter… but we sure LOVE a New England Fall!🍁
Our last retreat here was in 2019 and it was an incredible time in this gorgeous setting. We enjoyed such a beautiful time in nature and in God’s Word, and we are so excited to go back again to share this incredible part of the U.S. with another group of women during the fall foliage! It truly is breathtaking.
This will be our second Art & Faith Creative Retreat in Vermont, and if you’d like to hear about our first retreat here, you can find our blog post about it HERE. We’ve been vacationing in Vermont all the way back to our honeymoon in 1989. We fell in LOVE with this part of New England and have been taking our family back here ever since. This part of our country is absolutely stunning at this time of year, so we’re looking forward to taking you with us as we enjoy all that the Lord has for us here, as the leaves gently change colors.
This retreat is 5 nights, 6 days on a Wednesday to Monday. That may seem like odd timing, but it’s only because this is high, high, HIGH season in this area for “leaf peepers” and it is very hard to find places to host a retreat at this time of year. We’ve worked hard to bring something to you that you will love, is within our level of beautiful retreats, AND allows us to keep the price down as much as we can to have it here.
So we are thrilled to have found an amazing location… our very own Farmhouse! This retreat will be October 5 - 10, 2022.
You can find out all the details and register for this retreat on our Creative Retreat Page.
We can’t wait to meet you here and make you feel pampered, rested and loved. All while we explore God’s gorgeous creation as the leaves gently fall all around us! (Bring your camera’s because the lighting is INCREDIBLE and we will be out exploring every day)
You can scroll to the bottom to find out our “Theme for the Year” and what we have in story for our retreats!
3. You probably know how excited we are to be back in Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy this year!
This is where our retreats started over 10 years ago!
Back in 2011 we were on vacation in Bellagio and it’s when the Lord brought purpose into a dream! A dream that suddenly popped into my mind and caused me to literally “Jump up”… (It’s a long story, but I talk about it in the book I’m currently writing).
Lake Como IS a dream and an incredibly inspiring place. So it’s why we absolutely love sharing all our favorite lakeside villages, gourmet and casual restaurants, gorgeous villas and gardens, and all our secret places with you on our weeklong retreats here. Of course we’ll also sip cappucino’s in the morning together and be in AWE of our God and the beauty of His creation in this incredible part of the world! It’s been such a joy getting to know the people here & to bring YOU into their lives through the relationships we’ve built. We’ve had so many women tell us that it wasn’t just a vacation or retreat, it was a chance to step away from their busy lives and connect with the people, places & culture of Italy. Along with time in God’s Word, the ART we create, and the beauty of time well spent… it truly does provide a place to see what the Lord wants to do in our lives. And did I also mention all the GELATO we’ll enjoy??
So it is with that, that we welcome you to join us for our Art & Faith Creative Retreat in Bellagio, Italy June 11 - 18, 2022! We are currently FULL on this retreat, but you can send us an email to be put on the Wait List. We know if the Lord is calling you to join us here, He will make a way!
This retreat is a weeklong retreat, and you can find out all the details on our Creative Retreats Page.
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Every year we pray about the theme of the retreat and the Lord always provides that theme. In the past it has been themes like HOPE, JOY, and ABIDE. For 2022 the Lord is giving us a new theme that we will explore all year long:
The Art of Sharing Your Story”
I am so excited about this retreat friends! I truly believe now more than ever, especially in light of all the challenges we face these days, that we need to quiet the noise, Be in God’s Word and listen to His voice so we can be a light in the darkness. We need to find creative, art-filled ways to share the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel message so the world may know Jesus. We need to ask how we can be image bearers that can artfully connect God’s beauty and love through our testimonies. How can we share the story He is writing in our lives, so we can bring others along on the journey of what God is doing? This is just a little of what we will be exploring together all year long at our retreats!
There is so much here that I can’t wait to unwrap during these retreats… but the Lord has brought me back to the heart of all of it… and it is this:
1 Chronicles 16:8 says: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples!”
1 Peter 3:15 also says: “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the HOPE that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
Sharing our testimony… what God has and is doing in our lives… so that, others may see and know Him!
It is important and beautiful and life giving.
Our heart is to encourage you and come along side you as you are inspired in these beautiful settings. We hope to share creative ways to go forward in this so we can all go back home and heed the call of the Gospel message in our homes, our families and our communities!
Will you consider joining us?
Registration will be begin tomorrow morning, February 12th.
Please feel free to email us via our Contact Page if you have any question.
Hugs to all,
Laura McCollough