I’m thrilled to announce I am now offering Boutique Intimate Retreats for women!
Specifically, for you and your close friends. I’ll come to you, or you can come to me.
My charming weekend getaway cottage – a tranquil haven located in a private, gated club tucked away about 40 minutes outside DC – offers an exclusive guest experience equip with high-end service, serene surroundings, and luxurious amenities.
Or, if you already have your own favorite getaway spot or weekend home that is central and convenient for your friends - I’ll come to you. Whether it’s Nashville, New York, LA, or another city - you pick the venue, the place, and I’ll be there with my suitcase!
(If you’re a man and think this email won’t apply to you – trust me, the “God moves suddenly” part will. So, keep reading!)
The purpose of this blog post is to share my faith story of how Boutique Intimate Retreats came about.
This is where many of YOU are involved.
Whether you are a client, friend, or colleague – here’s what you’ve been saying:
“Getting together with my group of friends is challenging with our conflicting schedules. I’d love for us to be accountable to an expert and get something on the calendar without having the stress of planning it. We are all so busy. It would be great to have someone we know and trust who is trained and available to facilitate our time together.”
“My close friends and I travel with our husbands which is great, but it’s not the same as girlfriend solo time. The conversations are just…different. There are some things only women understand. I’d love to have a girlfriends-only trip and invite an expert who can help us get to the heart of things and have fun!”
“I love my therapist and benefit from our sessions, but sometimes I wish my friends could know me this well. Ask these types of questions. Help me see things I’m not aware of. And I could do the same for them. I wish my therapist could regularly join my friend group.”
“I have a blessed life. A great family for the most part. I’m financially stable. Have a successful career…God’s done so many good things, but I need to be honest about some things that are hard. It’s challenging to say how I truly feel without feeling like I’m ungrateful or complaining. I’d love to gather a group of my friends and really talk. Maybe even bring in outside help. I want to make sure I’m not alone in this.”
“My Bible study is great, sometimes we read a book or go through the Bible, we pray for each other, yet I’m really needing more emotional connection; to go beyond the spiritual part. To learn how to apply faith to my daily life. I want to discuss real and practical things too, you know?”
“I occasionally meet with my favorite friends for coffee or brunch, but it’s not enough time to really connect and we’re constantly interrupted by the waiter, the restaurant is noisy, and we have limited time due to other commitments planned that day.”
“I invite friends over to sit in the comfort of my living room or outdoor space hoping to really talk, but my work phone is distracting, the dog is needing a walk, or the kids need my attention. We keep getting sidetracked.”
“I’m in a small group, yet we can’t seem to get to the core issues. It’s become routine and a bit stagnant. Mundane even. We always discuss the same old issues.”
“I love my besties but sometimes I feel stuck trying to help them. I feel tempted to fix the situation. I’m not sure if my advice is helpful. And they are great listeners too, but I find myself wondering what a professional would say. Someone to help us all get unstuck and go even deeper.”
“I’m a forward-thinker and let’s face it, I’m getting older. I want to have space to prepare and dream so I’m ready when this new season arrives. I’ll always be a (wife, mother, businesswoman), but I find myself wondering what will fill that void and inspire me in my next phase of life? I’d love to have a place to discover what’s ahead in my future with friends who know me well along with an objective, outside perspective to help facilitate.”
I hear you.
My greatest heart’s desire is to provide a safe place for like-minded women of shared faith and ambition to intentionally gather.
Throughout my clinical career, I’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds upon hundreds of clients find healing and confidently gain the courage to live the life they really want.
Utilizing over twenty years of clinical expertise as a therapist coupled with my theological training, biblical wisdom, and my own lived experience – I want to create something luxuriously high-end and confidential, yet intimate and deep.
My vision for this sanctuary-esque space is to provide women with an upscale and exclusive getaway among nature to be privately pampered in cozy comfort.
After years of soul searching and praying over my dream and vision, I kept hearing a quiet voice whisper within, retreat. Over time, prominently successful people whom I respect heard the same thing! Then suddenly, it came together, and my dream became a reality.
Force an Ishmael or wait for an Isaac?
When I feel a strong intuitive pull to create something new, I’ve learned (the hard way) to pause and let my dream simmer rather than go full force Type- A- Andrea into making it happen in my way, in my time.
What I mean by the hard way is that the ambitious, creative, entrepreneur in me has “birthed” Ishmaels (inevitable hardships) rather than wait for my Isaac (God’s promise).
I have compassion for Abraham and Sarah. It must have been difficult to receive a promise from God (you shall be the father of many nations, and I will bless Sarah and give you a son also by her) coupled with a vision (look up at the sky and count the stars; that’s how many descendants you will have)…despite their impossible circumstances (Sarah past child-bearing years)…only to get excited and then nothing happens.
Instead of continuing to wait and trust God’s promise, they lean to their human understanding and take matters into their own hands (Ishmael is conceived by Sarah’s maidservant). You know the Bible story.
I can totally relate to how hard it is to wait on God and trust His promises when nothing appears to be happening. And then decide to make it happen. Been there done that.
Later, because of God’s mercy and faithfulness - when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah conceived. The Lord did for them as He had promised, she miraculously became pregnant, and Isaac was born.
The Scriptures tell us to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Walking by faith is not for the faint of heart.
My secret superpower
I am a “follow my intuition” kind of person. I’ve learned that intuition doesn’t give me multiple steps. It just tells me what the next step is. Then I take one step of faith at a time. The science geek in me has researched the sh*t out of gut instinct. Biologically speaking, trusting our gut is essential to our health. I love when science aligns with scripture which validates my convictions which confirms my intuitions. I feel like a total nerd as I’m typing this.
Anyway…
My secret superpower is my intuitive wisdom. I’ve been told over the course of my life that I have “an uncanny ability to hit the bullseye of the heart.” And to help people get unstuck and find the pit bull like courage to pursue what they really want...by being unapologetically themself. My confidence in them becomes contagious.
They can't help but experience how eerily and accurately my words of wisdom capture their soul. A close colleague will text me saying, "I need you to Andrea-me." There's no greater joy.
This happens because I am fully present with the people in front of me. They have my undivided attention. Nobody exists outside of their time. I stop caring about everything I need to do next.
My friends laugh because when I meet someone, I know their soul within seconds and I’m way too intuitive to be mistaken.
My husband, on the other hand, is not laughing. I say with a smirk. Months or years later, he tells me – well, you were right about this person…again. He does recognize it’s my protective heart toward him and he’s ultimately grateful.
When it comes to myself, specifically passion projects and professional endeavors - I must be careful not to use this gift of intuition God has given me and step out ahead of His timing.
When, God, when!?
Birthing our dreams must be like giving birth. Conceiving it is the fun part. Then you go through out-of-your-mind labor pains, self-doubt, fear, tears, laughter, looking stupid, and losing sleep. And wonder why you birthed it in the first place. Then you experience epic moments of bliss and awe.
Many times, in the past, I have intuited something I know is God’s purpose and then after waiting a while, force it to happen - birth it prematurely -only to have it fail. Insert my Ishmaels. And become disappointed and confused (and let’s be honest, mad at God).
I can humbly admit that after my “sacrificial obedience” to God by waiting, I expect Him to reward me by making it happen. Related to my dream and vision from God about creating women’s retreats, nothing happened for three years! No doors opened. Nothing felt right.
Had I missed God? Had I made up the vision? Would it ever happen? I kept demanding when, God, when!?
God kept saying, “Be still. Cease Striving” (Ps. 46:10).
Lesson learned again and again. Now when God promises me a dream and gives me a vision for it, I surrender it right back over to Him. And wait. That’s when the miracles happen.
No more Ishmaels for me, I’m all about waiting for the Isaacs.
The Isaacs happen suddenly.
After I surrender God’s promise back to him, at some point sooner or later, suddenly the dream becomes a reality. God surprises me so He gets the glory. A full-blown miracle appears.
Suddenly looks like:
The right people start to show up. The right opportunities quickly align. All the things I thought I’d have to force happen arrive in Divine timing. Everything I thought I’d have to strive for or earn flows easily and seamlessly comes together.
My dream happens supernaturally despite impossible circumstances. With hair-raising accuracy. I’m talking pinch-me moments.
Suddenly = My intuition + Receiving a Vision + Hearing God’s Promise + Surrender + Divine Timing + Supernatural Intervention + Action Steps of Faith
I no longer make decisions hastily with regards to my dreams (Is. 28:16). I don’t want to get impatient and step out in zeal instead of waiting for God’s timing. Which for me means waiting for the still small voice, sensed within my gut, to give me the next faith step. My sheep hear my voice (John 10:27). Until I hear God’s voice - I do nothing but wait.
I dream. I create. But I wait.
Even though it appears like nothing is happening, I believe much is being accomplished behind the scenes in the Spirit. The suddenly can happen immediately, or it can take years. My part is to do the next right step and have faith that God’s timing is perfect.
The key to suddenly is surrender. Doing everything humanly possible and then intuiting when to let go, give the dream back to God, and stop trying to force it into existence.
Expect the unexpected. Your suddenly might look different than what you originally hoped for, but it will be better than you can ever imagine (Eph. 3:20).
When your dream happens is up to God.
The waiting part used to be challenging for me. Yet because I’ve experienced supernatural suddenlies, I now excitedly embrace the waiting. I don’t feel like time is wasting. Or envious of others. Or the burden of my potential. Or fear that it’s not going to happen. Or that I missed God.
Instead, I confidently and patiently hope. I have an unshakable faith in the things not seen (Heb. 11:1):
"Faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen."
When I’m truly walking by faith, there is joy. Because even though I don’t know what God’s going to do or when He’s going to do it or how He’s going to do it - I’m excited to see it happen – because I know He is going to do it.
It’s not up to me to know how and when. It’s my job to ask for what I really want and wait for the how and when to be revealed. Then take action. It’s the what, not the how-when. The how comes when it comes, and when I least expect it - suddenly my dream manifests.
Your faith in God must be greater than your fear of not getting what you want.
I want to host Intimate Retreats…
One of my favorite things is having deep, meaningful conversations with a small group of women in an intimate setting.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been hearing in the last couple years a longing women have to connect in a small group gathering and not as much in large retreats or conferences.
There’s such a need I feel like for women to come together. Women you already know but don’t have the time to really talk and go deeper without distractions of a waiter or kids or your husband or work interruptions.
Boutique Intimate Retreats are about having an intentional time in a dedicated place without the interruptions of your daily life. And getting away for a couple days without distractions.
As ambitious women of faith, we all go through many similar things. Sharing stories is so powerful. Knowing you’re not alone.
While also having a professional, that’s me, help you and provide outside perspective. Additionally, I will meet with you one-on-one as well as teach the group on a topic of your choosing that you and your friends struggle with.
These Boutique Intimate Retreats are going to be special and personalized to you. You and your close friends. Or friends you want to be closer to.
I can’t wait to be in the same room together. Put my arms around you. Spoil you. Pamper you. Help you. My intent is to keep these retreats private, confidential, and small. Unlike most larger retreats where you are paired with a stranger.
All you must do is think about what you’re going to wear and what you and your friends want to discuss - myself and my staff will take care of the rest.
Something magical happens when a small group of creative, thoughtful, teachable, and talented women intentionally gather in-person and want to go deep and learn.
I believe Jesus modeled the most powerful and effective method of life-changing transformation. He intentionally gathered in living rooms, around tables, and talked very deeply with a handful of people.
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For more detailed information on Boutique Intimate Retreats, click HERE.
Retreats are offered all year round. Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. Each season equip with its own exceptionally customized menus, personalized luxurious services, and ultra-exclusive offerings.
Let's have a conversation about your unique needs and desires, click HERE to begin.
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