Mastering YOU Monday...the power of encouragement!

I guess there’s no better way to jump back into blogging than to jump back in it, right? And of course to share with everyone about my very first “Prowess and Pearls” women’s retreat I hosted last weekend! Yep yep, you heard correct…a “Prowess and Pearls” retreat! Not just any retreat though…you know the ones where every.single.minute.of.the.weekend.is.taken.up.by speakers, workshops and the such. Been there, done that.  Not that there’s anything wrong with those retreats(because they're needed as well), but come on – we have to admit that sometimes after those kind of retreats, we can come out feeling like we’re in need of a vacation! You know how you go on a vacation that has an itinerary so jammed packed you get stressed out trying to make sure you check every single item off the list? Nope, this was a
retreat
where it was all about refreshing ourselves! We laughed, played like we were 12 year old girls at a sleepover and ate like teenage football players after 3 hours of intense practice! Yessiree…we had THAT kind of fun! But most of all, we encouraged one another and for some of us, got out of our comfort zones! Did I mention there were 19 of us in a farmhouse on an 80 acre farm for two days? Can you imagine the excitement we had when we realized we could make as much noise as we wanted to! HA! You know...sometimes you've got to just let your hair down and have some fun! Some of us need to take time to "loosen up and unwind".



Okay, enough on that…now on to the power of encouragement. Last weekend I had a chance to bring together a group of awesome women, who left feeling more empowered and refreshed – but most of all we learned how to become “pride sisters”. We learned the ministry of “support”. We encouraged one another to walk in our “prowess”. You know, that skill set and talent we do so well. Yes, you got it it…exactly what this blog is all about! As I've mentioned many times before, we’re ultimately responsible to hone our own prowess, however, I’m a firm believer that one of the propelling forces behind us developing and honing our prowess is “community”- our ability to fellowship with, share with, bring out each others’ strength, build up one another and do this life together! It’s not just about hoping the best for, or wanting the best for, but actually seeing the best in and pulling the best out of each other! We must make sure we’re sharing our secrets to life with one another and not being stingy with our wisdom, our time and our talents. We must pay it forward and share with others how we overcame. We can’t be selfish when it comes to being our sisters’ keeper. Doing for others is where fulfillment in this life really comes from.

I don’t know about you, but I’m absolutely no good when I live unto “myself”.

It’s no lie and even you’ll have to admit, when we've been encouraged…we feel stronger and more confident, we make things happen, we believe God even more and we reach out and bless others! That's when the investment God has put in us, starts to finally pay off for Him!  For years, David has been one of my favorite biblical characters. Why? Because he was excellent at encouraging himself, therefore, he was a boss at encouraging everyone attached to his life! It’s a proven fact that those who have mastered encouraging themselves are usually masters at encouraging others. How else could 400 discontented, distressed and indebted men go into the Cave of Adullam with David and come out as mighty men of valor? Through the power of encouragement that’s how!  It’s a win/win situation! Encouragement is reciprocal! Those who give encouragement – get encouragement, more than likely from God Himself! Proverbs 11:25b says – “Those who refresh others will himself be refreshed”. Besides, encouraging someone else gets our focus off of us. For some of us, that’s our number one problem! We all know that when we think about ourselves and meditate on our situation for too long, it gives our brains just enough time to turn on us. Our minds will start spinning about everything that’s NOT going right or what could go wrong! I believe that while we’re preoccupied with blessing someone else, God is behind the scenes working on our stuff…not getting any hindrances from us because we’re not in the way with all of our stinkin’ thinkin’, messing stuff up with our doubt, unbelief and bad confessions. Before you know it, that thing you were concerned about, fretting over and thought could never be fixed…God’s taken care of! He made this thing so simple y’all. He tells us to love Him with all of our being, love our neighbor as ourselves, do good unto others and walk by faith. It’s when we get away from those things, we start complicating stuff! So go ahead and make someone’s day. It doesn’t hurt to offer someone an encouraging word or even your beautiful smile. It will be a seed sown towards someone having an awesome day!



 I won’t be able to share with you ALL we did…cause you know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right! Hahahaa...just kidding! But I can tell you that we presented our "Prowess Campaigns" and passed around our "Envelopes of Pearls". Get it...Prowess and Pearls. I'm so clever, lol!  But seriously, if you want to hear more, you’ll just have to join us next time!! No, seriously…join us next time. My vision and faith is to have Prowess and Pearls retreats all over the world! That's right...ALL OVER THE WORLD!  And in the meantime, I'll leave you with some pics! Until next time…I love you, appreciate your support and call you blessed!! Hebrews 10:19-25, Philippians 2:1-11, Proverbs 11:25(b)

*When and where was your last retreat?*
All Rights Reserved copyright© 2012-2015 Michell Pulliam “Prowess and Pearls” by Michell Pulliam

WELCOME!

Preparing and presenting our "Prowess" campaigns

Rest and relaxation!

Food and fellowship!

And we can't forget the FUN!

                                                            

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