It’s commonly known that skiing and snowboarding are male dominated sports. Women who shred can be found empowering one another in shred culture around the world. SFC Girl’s Director, Anna Schrafft, wanted to take part in empowering women in not only their riding but in their spiritual walk as well. With this in mind, Anna brainstormed the idea of hosting a women’s retreat, gathering female shredders together in one place to learn about their identity in Christ and to enjoy shredding together in a new place.
This April in Mammoth, CA Anna’s idea came to life! A group of incredible shredder women gathered together in a sweet little cabin near the slopes. They spent time on the mountain riding together and visited a local hot springs. Jamie and Natalie McLeod, pastors of Lighthouse Church hosted the group for meals and retreat sessions. Lighthouse has been partnered with SFC for years and has a great, “at home” environment. Some of the local church ladies joined the group for retreat activities and sessions. Alie Heenan, SFC’s Director of Operations, spoke on who God says we are. She challenged each girl to reflect on how they view their own selves and then compare it to who God says they are in scripture. Her incredible talk was followed by Anna, who spoke on how to determine what shapes your identity. Anna concluded her session encouraging the attendees to live into their “God given identities.” Liz Wallace, SFC’s Communication Specialist, shared her testimony of identity. At the conclusion of the retreat sessions the girls had time to reflect and discuss how they were impacted. Their stories were beautiful and every girl agreed that this topic really “hit home.”
Lastly, you can’t have a girl’s retreat without a slumber party! Alie and Liz, knew a handful of girls on the retreat were craving girl time. The last night of the retreat the girls got in comfy clothes, turned on some T-swift, painted nails, ate snacks, and made friendship bracelets. At the conclusion of the retreat one of the attendees exclaimed “This is the best retreat I have ever been on and I have been to a lot of retreats, so that is saying something.”
The weekend was a dream and SFC staff is already contemplating where to go for next year!