tickled pink

Tomorrow is the big day. The TrueNorth Church Chicks "Tickled Pink" Retreat is finally here and the fun can begin after a year of preparation by Mama Chick and her chickadees. I have the position of Adminstrative Chick and I want to share some stuff I have experienced over the three years of planning this event:

1. It takes dependable people who catch the vision to pull this thing off. When everyone does their part, this retreat runs like a well-oiled machine. And when something falls through, we always have a Plan B.

2. Having 50 ladies signed up two weeks before the registration deadline doesn't mean anything. Women want to hang on to their money until the very last minute! We went from 50 signups to 130 signups in a very short amount of time.

3. Speaking of money, there are a handful of women who are paying for their BFF to attend. I know some of these generous women personally and they live on a tight budget. But they choose to put their money on something they value....and that is relationships!

4. Some of the guys who work production for us at the retreat say they love the event and wouldn't miss it. I have even heard one say he wished he was a Chick! Doh! We have also seen guys in drag trying to crash the event!

5. When you put a microphone in front of a woman who is bursting to release her inner rock star, sometimes it is not a good thing. We have had to carefully select the song choices this year for the karaoke segment due to previous experiences. And that's all I can say about that.

6. Women are fickle. We always ask them to fill out evaluation cards at the end of the retreat and we seriously want honest feedback. But one person says they love the food and one says Chicks shouldn't eat chicken! One person says it's too long/too cold/too serious and another says it's too short/too hot/not serious enough! So sometimes it is difficult to evaluate when the comments are inconsistent.

7. We can always count on going home with plenty of goodies. There is always a gift for us at our table after every meal and break. And there is about a 50% chance of walking away with a door prize basket before the end of the retreat. This year over 50 baskets and prizes have been donated.

Ok, that's a list of 7 things. I wanted to make 10 because 7 is an odd number, but I'll get over it.

Please pray that this retreat will be a place where women feel loved and that they will develop a deeper desire for a closer relationship with our God.