Because I have been so busy getting the new line out I have not had a chance to share with you about Brave Girl Camp.
If you have been following my blog for awhile you know that I went to BGC a year ago and what an amazing impact it had on me.
You can read about last year here, here and here.
About six months ago two of my friends asked me if I would join them at BGC. I agreed. As the time was coming closer one of them had to back out. When it was about a month away I was regretting signing up again. I have had many trips this year and just didn’t want to leave my family again…and the biggest reason was because I HAD DONE THIS ALREADY. I was worried that an experience that had been so amazing could be tainted by doing it again.Â
When I finally bought my plane ticket and I received the email full of all the other girls coming…..I cried.
I cried looking at their photos and hearing their stories.
I cried because many of the staff are people I love DEARLY and I couldn’t wait to see.
I cried because I was so excited and happy for these new girls because of what they were about to experience.
When I came home after the first camp I was so full of ideas, dreams, resolutions that my sweet husband couldn’t get a word in.
Camp for me last year was a time of quiet for me that I desperately needed to truly find my focus.
When I was quiet long enough my head and heart were able to hear and respect each other and I saw clearer than I had in a long time.
I believe you can only be brave when you know some kind of direction.
If you have a focus/direction you can be scared and uncertain but at least you can take that FIRST step into that new world.
For so many of us we can flounder for so long because we don’t know our focus.Â
We can even allow so many others to steal our focus and we allow them/situations/commitments to distract us.
Sometimes we can stay so busy with things that don’t matter that we have no energy left for the things we were meant for!
When I came home this time I didn’t need to talk and talk.
This camp has been just as powerful and heart changing…but in a completely different way.
I had such a deep quiet peace as I had watched miracles.
I watched women change before my eyes.
How last time I had found focus …this time I heard so clearly to open my eyes.
Open my eyes because there is hurt everywhere.
EVERYWHERE.
On my street…in my town..in my little world..because we are all broken a little aren’t we?
When I relived Melody’s journey I was so aware of how much pain people can carry.
Melody has such a unique way of sharing her story that I will carry some of her experiences with me for the rest of my life.
I don’t want to look at those around me the same way.
The Lord calls us to be his hands and feet and that is EXACTLY what I want to be.
What I have seen with my realtionships throughout my life is that the heaviest burden, the most painful shame, the ugliest secrets, the most devastating acts can be lightened by another.
When women come together to support, uplift, encourage, love, listen, cry, laugh…..there is healing.
HUGE…undeniable….HEALING!
I am not saying that all their problems go away.Â
What I am saying is that you give another person HOPE!!
Hope that life doesn’t have to be what it has been.
Hope that what is in the past doesn’t define you.
Hope that there are people in this world that love them and will stand by them.
That is the kind of women I want to be.
Women at their worst can be so destructive…but women at their best can be the most powerful force on earth.
Don’t you want to use THAT power?
I want to live with my eyes WIDE OPEN!
I can’t tell you what you will come away with if you go to BGC or how that experience will change your heart.
I can only promise you that it will be GOOD…so good!
 {to all you brave girls that I met this time..you are precious, beautiful and brave…so, so brave}
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Don’t forget that there is still time to enter my $200 shop giveaway.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your huge and beautiful response to my new line!
This is stunningly beautiful Jeanne, thank you!
YOU are…a gift…so grateful that YOU are in my life now…i knew from the first time i saw your picture that YOU are special…that I was going to know you…your heart…
love love love you…
kiss kiss
m
How awesome Jeanne! I’m going for my second time in February and can’t wait to see what is in store. 🙂
Love this! Love you! What a beautiful and brave soul you have! XOXO
Beautiful words; beautiful women; joyous photos!!
Beautiful post Jeanne!!!XXOO
Sometimes we can stay so busy with things that don’t matter that we have no energy left for the things we were meant for!
and so many other beautiful words/thoughts to hold onto, jeanne! i love that you had this time again and anew with these women!
Te statement that Women at their worst can be so destructive…but women at their best can be the most powerful force on earth is the absolute truth. I am so happy that you were able to experience this beautiful time with these amazing women and it was so fun to see my sweet friend Chrissy bright and beautiful posted on your blog. Jeanne thank you for sharing your amazing experiene.
Jeanne,
I just smile with great joy for you. Some day, I hope I can go, also.
Hugs,
Suz
jeanne…this post was a gift to me. i really loved seeing brave girls camp “again” from your beautiful perspective. you have the most heavenly eye. i feel so blessed to call you my friend. you are bright and glowing and wise! (and oh so funny!)
huge hugs to you and thanks for coming to BGC a second time so that i could breath you in.
xo
chrissy
sounds like such an amazing experience!
I wondered what it would be like to do it a second time. I love what the Lord spoke to you. This is so precisely where I am, too.
Your words said what my heart wanted felt. You are phenomenal!
If only I could type! Your words said what my heart FELT! Love you!
So meaningful what the Lord showed you. So blessed to have been opened up to that. Just amazing!
Lovely post and what an experience; I just found your blog and your beautiful work but I want to say that you nailed what I’ve been trying to figure out–I need focus and calm for my spirit to tell me what it needs–now to find out how to listen with everyday trials!
Jeanne I had the amazing pleasure of giving you big hugs in real life. I am so grateful everyday for our divine chance to meet. You are a blessing to me and encourage me every day to find my wings and fly…. This is a beautiful post. Love and hugs, Amy
Oh wow. This is amazing. I really hope that I have the opportunity to go one day.
Jeanne.. thnks for sharing once again your beautiful words. It was a year ago that I came upon your blog because of your Brave Girl post and same as last time, I sit here with tears running down my face. I am heading out today to spend time with my sister, who is going thru so much pain and heartache. What she needs more than my arms around her is a Brave Girl Experience…One day, I promise that I will and she will get that BG moment.
beautiful post jeanne. it sounds like an amazing experience. one that every woman should go to. thanks for sharing.
Your words just sing to my soul! Beautiful post, Jeanne…brought tears to my eyes…my eyes that want to be wide open, too:)
Jeanne this is my first time on your site. I love the Brave Girls Club & subscribe to their Daily Truth. it’s so inspiring, hope to go one day. Your words on woman are so true & something to think about. Thanks
So beautiful, Jeanne! I think your words are what I needed for the last 10 years :)— Thanks for how you live life and how you express your love for people and Jesus! You definitely are a brave and dangerous woman :)! Blessings!
I would love to go to this camp someday….my life is in a bit of turmoil right now and it sounds like such a good way to clear my mind. Thanks for sharing!
JEANNE.. such a beautiful post. Thank you for listening to your heart and coming this 2nd time. Thank you. That time I spent with you opened up my eyes to a lot of things. The time we talked was one of the defining moments for me.If you weren’t there, it wouldn’t have happened. I am so happy I got to meet you in person. To just BE with you. You are oh so special… and my heart will be forever grateful for the time you took out of your time there, to personally spend with me. xooxox LOVE YOU DEARLY.
What a great looking blog you have! I enjoyed scrolling through it very much. Love your new line of clothes!
Lieve groet, Madelief
How inspirational!
(((hugs)))
Sounds like a wonderful experience, even for the second time! I am so glad that you went and didn’t back out! I want to live with my eyes wide open too, but sometimes I am ok with them closed…i do love my sleep! 🙂 xo
What a wonderful testimony to the power of sisterhood. Looks like an amazing time was had by all.
Judy
Amazing, amazing…and what He showed you this time…how wonderful it was different but great!
What a wonderful experience….your words make me want to do something like this! It would be so good for ME, I just know it!
Thanks for sharing what this little journey was like for you!
~xo/michelle~
Perfect Post, my dear brave friend. I called your cell today to bask in my fading BGC glow for a moment…call me tomorrow…It’s Tiara Friday, in fact! ha!
Meeting you in person (finally) and experiencing BGC all at once was almost too much for this heart to hold.
love you!
Lara