119 ladies, mostly from various areas of California, experienced an outstanding Women’s Enrichment Weekend Feb. 7-9 at the beautiful Embassy Suites in Santa Ana, California. The weekend was hosted by the Garden Grove congregation, and the theme for this year was “Courage—Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone.”

The brightly colored decoration on the walls and table centerpieces designed by Judy Dyches provided a vibrant atmosphere as the ladies entered our meeting hall on Sabbath morning when the main portion of the weekend began. Joe Horchak, pastor of the Sacramento and Reno congregations, set the tone with his theme-related sermon, “It Could Happen.” The sermon was preceded by exceptional special music selections, including a nine-member women’s ensemble.

The theme was expanded in the Sabbath-afternoon sessions. LeeAnn Luker, our special guest speaker, opened the afternoon with “The Path of Life,” as she shared some of the challenges of this past year that definitely took her out of her comfort zone, along with some valuable lessons she has learned on this journey.

Elaine Carlisle then shared a personal example of her great-grandmother who came to America from Wales with her family in the 1870s. How she triumphed over the many hardships in her life provided an enduring legacy. After a break, Jean Updegraff shared the adventures and lessons from Roz Savage, who in this past decade rowed 15,000 miles alone across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, definitely typifying coming out of one’s comfort zone. This was followed by an interactive discussion by tables led by Kerry Heesch. A delicious banquet meal capped off the day.

Sunday morning, six ladies (Ixis Ahearn, Sarah Douthett, Parisha Doyle, Rocio Gonzalez, Linda Moffitt and Coleen Moriarty) reinforced the theme of courage and stepping out of our personal comfort zone by sharing their varied personal experiences. Sunday afternoon, after lunch and fellowship together, Suzanne Miller shared slides and experiences of the 2013 Feast in Kenya followed by LeeAnn Luker’s presentation of “United Ambassadors,” sharing examples of women fulfilling vital responsibilities in the international work of the United Church of God. Deborah Barr expertly wove the presentations together as our moderator.

Our ladies left the weekend inspired to take steps to come out of their own personal comfort zone this coming year and equipped with tools to do just that.