United Church of God

Garden Grove’s Women’s Enrichment Weekend

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Garden Grove’s Women’s Enrichment Weekend

We all experience changes and varying types of breezes, gales and even hurricanes in our lives. The key is how we respond to these “winds of change.” Our ladies appreciated the stories, lessons and principles that can be applied to everyday life. Two-thirds of the attendees this year were from southern California and the remaining third came from other areas in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas and Hawaii.

Our full weekend began with many arriving Friday, settling in to relax and meet with friends. The Sabbath began with inspiring special music selections with solos by Kourtney Kovanis, Sue Crow and Ingrid Helge, and ended with a nine-member women’s ensemble. Joe Horchak, pastor of churches in Sacramento, California and Reno, Nevada, delivered a sermon that set the tone and spiritual overview for the rest of the weekend.

The theme was expanded on Sabbath afternoon. After welcoming comments by Jackie Horchak, LeeAnn Luker gave an overview of the theme with “Breezes, Gales and Hurricanes.” Kim Budge followed with “Watching the Windsock,” complete with a display of a colorful windsock. Carolina Clark added more applications in adapting to her own life’s experiences. Sylvia Kennedy completed the afternoon with an interactive discussion as each table discussed how to handle various scenarios.

The Sabbath was capped by a delicious Mexican buffet. On Sunday morning, three ladies (Jaylyn Stample, Aimee Hooser and Christy Tomes) shared various changes in their lives and what they learned from their experiences. An interactive discussion followed, led by Jennifer Heesch, with groups of four sharing and learning from significant changes in their lives.

On Sunday afternoon, after a deli sandwich group buffet, Tina Fogelson shared “Every Day is an Adventure,” which encapsulated the theme. Jean Updegraff presented closing comments. Our moderator Coleen Moriarty expertly wove the presentations together with a great deal of humor.

This year we also had a fundraiser raffle. We earmarked the proceeds toward a new Women’s Enrichment Weekend in Guatemala. Our Garden Grove pastor Mario Seiglie considers Guatemala an excellent fit for a Women’s Weekend to serve the ladies in the local congregations in that area. Our attendees were excited about this new opportunity and we raised $2,105 toward funding this new venture. (About half of the funds came from raffle income and the other half from direct donations.) We are pleased to share our Women’s Enrichment Weekend experiences with others who have never had the opportunity.

The ladies left the Weekend encouraged with tools to adapt to the “winds of change” in their lives.