Amanda’s Rest & Play Story

The magic behind every Rest & Play experience isn’t the beach house, the meals, or even the beautiful sunsets. It’s the women who show up. Women with different stories, different backgrounds, different seasons of life, and different reasons for saying yes.

This series is dedicated to sharing those stories in their own words.

Meet Amanda.

Amanda has attended four Rest & Play retreats since joining us for the first time in 2022. She’s a creative, a writer, a faithful friend, and for several years now, she serves as a full-time caregiver for her grandmother with Alzheimer’s.

Like many women, Amanda spent her days pouring into others. Caring for family. Carrying responsibilities. Showing up for the people who depended on her.

And like many women, she wrestled with the guilt of taking time for herself.

Many women hesitate to attend a retreat because they wonder if they can justify stepping away from the responsibilities waiting at home. They worry about the people they’ll leave behind, the arrangements they’ll need to make, or whether it’s selfish to take time for themselves.

Amanda’s story offers a different perspective.

Her experience highlights something we believe deeply at Rest & Play: sometimes stepping away for a few days allows you to return home with renewed energy, renewed perspective, and a renewed capacity to love and serve the people who matter most.

When asked what Rest & Play has meant to her over the years, this is what she shared:

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I became a full-time caregiver in 2021. The year leading up to it was difficult, but the years that followed were exceptionally hard.

Being a full-time caregiver meant that any time to myself became sacred. It was rare, sporadic, and often accompanied by guilt. Even taking a couple of hours to have dinner with friends, attend an event, or do something as simple as go to the park felt indulgent.

When I attended my first Rest & Play retreat, I remember coordinating care, making arrangements, and explaining to my grandmother that I would be gone for a few days – but that I would be back.

I also had to explain that I was going to a part of Florida that wasn’t near my aunt, who also lives in Florida. This was a very important detail because my grandmother wanted me to drop her off at my aunt’s house on my way to the retreat.

I have to admit that, initially, I kept checking in. I felt guilty leaving her with my family. I felt guilty for inconveniencing family members so that I could have time to myself.

Time to simply be Amanda.

Then, somewhere in the middle of that first retreat, something shifted within me.

I was able to connect with other women who, although they weren’t caregiving in the same way I was, were still pouring into their families, communities, and the people around them every single day.

I was able to pour into my grandmother in a way I hadn’t been able to for months. Rest & Play had given me room to breathe. I came home with a renewed desire to serve the Lord in a deeper way. That perspective has stayed with me, and I am forever grateful for it.

Since that first retreat, I have had the privilege of attending four Rest & Play retreats.

Each one has served me in a different way.

Each one arrived at exactly the right time.

My grandmother has Alzheimer’s, which is a progressive disease. She wasn’t getting better. In many ways, each retreat came during a season when I was more exhausted than the one before.

Yet every single time, I received exactly what I needed to return home and continue caring for my grandmother in a way that blessed both of us.

And honestly?

She was always very happy to see me when I returned because I was her constant.

One of the things I find most unique about Rest & Play is that it serves creative women without putting more on their plates. I’ve attended other retreats for creative women, and while I often left bursting with ideas, I didn’t necessarily leave rested.

Rest & Play somehow manages to create space for both.

You can connect with other creative women, have meaningful conversations, share ideas, dream, strategize, and still have room to refill your own bucket.

One of my favorite memories is sitting around the table during a roundtable discussion.

Every woman who wanted to participate had the opportunity to be heard.

Not only were her ideas heard, but she herself was seen. Women were encouraged. They were affirmed. They were poured into. Each person had the opportunity to hear not only what others thought about their ideas, but also how others saw them.

Their gifts.
Their strengths.
Their spirit.

Sometimes we don’t receive that kind of intentional encouragement in everyday life.

The conversations, connections, and relationships built at Rest & Play have exceeded anything I could have imagined. I’ve had deep and profound conversations with women I may never have crossed paths with otherwise. I’ve heard perspectives I hadn’t considered and learned from experiences different from my own.

I’ve also had the opportunity to be heard.

I truly believe those conversations don’t stop when the retreat ends. The women who leave Rest & Play return to their homes, families, businesses, churches, and communities carrying what they’ve experienced with them.

The ripple effects continue long after we unpack our bags.

And then there are the memories.

Even now, I find myself thinking back to conversations we had, moments we shared, and things we learned together. Those memories fill me with an unspeakable joy.

I think about things I never would have done otherwise – like sitting in a hot tub in freezing weather. It was so much fun!

But more than anything, I treasure the friendships.

The women I’ve met through Rest & Play have become forever friends. We may not talk every day, but I know they are in my corner and whenever I think of them, I pray for them because I know we all need that.

It’s a gift to know that women from different places, backgrounds, and life experiences can come together through love, through creativity, through a desire to share our gifts with the world, and through a desire to keep growing.

Rest & Play has been a blessing to my life in ways I can hardly describe.

And for a few precious days at a time, it reminds me that underneath all the responsibilities, all the caregiving, and all the roles I carry…

I still get to be Amanda.

– Amanda

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One of my favorite things about Amanda’s story is that it reminds us that rest isn’t selfish.

So many women spend their days caring for others, carrying responsibilities, meeting needs, and showing up for the people they love. Taking time away can feel impossible – or even irresponsible.

But Amanda’s experience reminds us that sometimes stepping away is exactly what allows us to return with renewed energy, perspective, and capacity to serve.

Rest & Play isn’t about escaping your life.

It’s about creating space to breathe, reconnect with yourself, deepen your faith, and return home refreshed for the people and responsibilities waiting for you.

The Women of Rest & Play is an ongoing series sharing the stories of the women who have shaped this community. We can’t wait to introduce you to more of them!

Interested in learning more about upcoming Rest & Play retreats? Apply for an upcoming experience here!