G4G Retreat 2013

For all of you who don’t know, there’s an amazing group at The College of Saint Rose called Girls 4 God (G4G).  The mission is, “G4G stands for Girls 4 God, and is an organization that wants to help, support, encourage, and empower girls and women! No girl should ever feel less than, it’s time to change that.” Led and founded by Junior Tinamarie Stolz, the group was just a dream made into reality through various forms of social media, word of mouth, and campus activities.

Showing off our G4G swag in the Chapel.
Photo Credit: Elyse Oosterman

On February 1^st and 2^nd,G4G led a retreat at the St. Joseph’s Provincial House in Latham, NY. While staying at the Provincial House, each girl was paired with a nun who would be praying for them throughout the retreat. I had the pleasure of meeting Sister Lamese, who graduated from The College of Saint Rose with a business degree. Sister Lamese showed me the chapel and told me the story behind the mosaic of Jesus that takes up the entire front wall of the chapel. Then we had dinner together where she told me about her time at Saint Rose and after; Sister Lamese is truly an inspiration of what I hope to achieve after graduation.

These two days were packed with group activities, individual speakers, prayer, and some life changing experiences. There were sessions led by Christina Proceda,Tinamarie Stolz, and Joan Horgan. I reached out to two other group leaders and asked them to sum up their messages that were shared that weekend. Courtney Becker titled her session as “Tell Yourself, I Am”. Courtney described her group talk as, “My talk was about the severity of eating disorders and how they come in all different colors, shapes, sizes. I talked about being bullied by others and being bullied by yourself. I also discussed the importance of loving yourself the way you are and tell yourself I am beautiful, I am strong, I am not a number, I am not my doubts, I am exuberance. I am.” Akienyalay Bruce titled her session as “Partying Wasn’t My Problem, Love Was”. Akienyalay described her group talk as: “To sum it up, my section addressed the different things in our lives that hold us back from experiencing God in his fullness. Stating that if we understood how loved truly worked as defined by God, we would experience true freedom while still maintaining our own unique personalities and characteristics. I also encouraged them to embrace the unique personality traits, gifts and desires God has given each of us and to view them as just that, “God given” aspects ordained for each of us to use to enjoy life. The talk was geared towards urging my fellow sisters to reevaluate the things they engage in on a daily basis and then determine whether these things positively or negatively impact their relationship/walk with God.”

Ice breakers and group activities are never a dull moment in G4G.
Photo Credit: Elyse Oosterman

You can read blog posts for G4G here, and don’t forget to like G4G on Facebook. G4G meets Tuesday nights at 7pm in the Sanctuary basement.