“I feel so whole, no condemnation, no fear of rejection, no shame here. Just absolute resolve that I have been redeemed and liberated to fulfill purpose and destiny…I felt that the scriptures in Isa. 62:2-5 were fulfilled.  Glory be to our God…I shared my abortion story with a friend and I did not feel I had to justify my actions with my past history of sexual abuse.  For me that said volumes.  It meant I no longer felt the need to hide my shame anymore because it was no longer there.”
                     
“It’s almost odd to feel good about ones self…I am still getting used to liking who I am and feeling that I am beautiful to God.”

“Ever since I have re-entered the "real world" I have been floating above the ground! I am so happy! I have such peace in my soul for the first time in my entire life.  I feel clean, desirable, and worthy of love.  You all have no idea how much this retreat and just your friendship mean to me!  To know that a group of women know all my secrets, all my skeletons and still want to talk to me…For so long the enemy had me convinced that if people knew the truth about me they would disown me, they would hate me, they would think I was unclean…It kept me locked up in pain, shame, and guilt.  So thank you all for loving me through it all. I am truly a new person, no scratch that, I am the original ME, the woman GOD created me to be! I am the me before the world got to me!”

“I feel like a very beautiful apple with life not only outside but inside as well.  I used to feel like I had a worm inside me.”

"Deeper Still Retreat helped me to bring things into the light and see more clearly.  I am so thankful for everyone and everything that happened during our time together.  I will forever be thankful for what I would call one of the greatest experiences in my life." 

"I recognize her (my baby) as a person now, and that I realized that I AM a mother....no matter what happens in this life. Now when my husband looks at me, he knows that he has a whole wife. All the cracks and whole in my heart have been repaired. There is no longer a gaping wound of grief and loss that was left from the abortion."

"I didn't realize what a spirit of death I had manifesting in many areas of my life. I couldn't commit to someone, I didn't want life around me. I didn't think I deserved "good" things to happen to me, I didn't think I deserved someone to treat me well because in the back of my heart, I viewed myself as a killer... I also always assumed if someone was trying to be good to me, they were trying to manipulate me and I pushed them away... I haven't done that in the past few weeks, I haven't even THOUGHT like that.... I am NOT a killer, I am a mother, a woman of God, I am forgiven, and I deserved to be cherished and honored.... Those are things that the Lord did in my heart and thought process... It is amazing how we believe a lie and it festers into bigger lies and then we start to believe them... Also, I have been able to pray more, and I WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH MY DADDY, I don't go to him ashamed and trying to hide... I love you all and I appreciate you all and your stories!!! PRAISE GOD FOR FREEDOM..."

Click on this link to see the comments from our April 2009 retreat.