
March 15-17, 2024 | August 23-25, 2024 | November 1-3, 2024
Enjoy a weekend of laughter, sharing, worship and fellowship at a Journey to Joy Women’s Retreat at Lake Junaluska. Led by Leigh Young, these retreats offer an opportunity to come together for spiritual renewal. Come on your own and make new friends, or come with members of your small group, women’s group, or friends and family – and friends and family in the faith – to grow closer together.
- Invitation & Welcome
- About the Retreat Leader
- Video
- Retreat Themes
- Sample Schedule
- Accommodations & Pricing
- Testimonials
- Subscribe to Retreat Updates
Journey to Joy Women’s Retreats are offered in partnership with Leigh Young. The retreats take place at Lake Junaluska in the mountains of Western North Carolina, just a short drive from Asheville. Our peaceful lakeside village’s stunning lake and mountain views, comfortable accommodations, and convenient amenities provide a welcoming and soothing setting for renewing old friendships, making new friends and deliberately seeking the godly life that makes our joy complete.
Registration
Register online using the links below or call reservations at 800-222-4930.
Registration
- March 15-17, 2024 – Register Online
- August 23-25, 2024 – Register Online
- November 1-3, 2024 – Register Online
You can also call reservations at 800-222-4930.
Event Updates
Subscribe to retreat updates.
Invitation & Welcome
All women seeking joy are invited and welcome to come to Lake Junaluska for a Journey to Joy Women’s Retreat led by Leigh Young. Leigh will guide retreat participants to remember that God intends for us to lead lives filled with Joy. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
But these words are not just some cheery greeting card platitudes. God knows!
• He knows our pain.
• He knows our relationship challenges.
• He knows our financial setbacks. He knows the deep ache in our hearts.
Jesus assures that “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
So let’s go!
Let’s take a Journey to Joy.
MEET LEIGH YOUNG
The retreat facilitator is Leigh Young, an author, speaker and entrepreneur with a passion for helping women find joy through the Word of God and the God of the Word. Her latest book, Journey to Joy: A Seven-Week Path to the Joyous Life God Intended, takes the reader on a voyage to the “abundant life,” which Jesus promises. Leigh leads local women’s groups in a pre-journey retreat, Lingering at the Trailhead, and multi-week small group studies. For a free sample of the book, email [email protected]. For more information about Leigh, visit www.leighwyoung.com.

Upcoming Retreat Themes
If you are bringing a group, we suggest that you block rooms in advance. Please note that the content of each of these sessions changes each year. Retreats with the same theme from one year to the next will offer fresh and different experiences.
Journey to Joy: Lessons from the Women of the Cross
March 15-17, 2024
This Spring Weekend is a lovely way to enrich your Lenten experience. Explore with us the brave women who stayed with the Lord even as he was dying on the cross. What motivated them to remain with Jesus despite their sorrow? How were they able to stand firm even amidst the Roman soldiers and the angry Jewish leaders? Who were these women and what are their stories? What can we learn from the life and actions of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and John, and Mary of Bethany. Register Online.
Journey to Joy: Lessons from the Letters
August 23-25, 2024
Join us this summer for a joyful and worshipful time of fellowship and learning as we dive into “Lessons from the Letters: A Journey to the Abundant Life.” This Bible study explores the letters to the seven churches in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation revealing the path to the abundant life. These letters are a gift of hope and peace as Jesus shows us ways to live our best life. Although written centuries ago, these truths are as relevant to us today as they were to the early believers. We will “journey” to those cities and explore the Lessons from these Letters. Register Online.
Journey to Joy: The Abundant Life
Nov. 1-3, 2024
Jesus said “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God knows our pain, our relationship challenges, our financial setbacks, and the deep ache in our hearts. Although Jesus tells us, “in this world, you will have trouble,” He assures us that we can “take heart,” for He has overcome the world. Come join us on this new experience and fresh look at these passages as we dig deeper to claim the promises of the abundant life filled with the joy of the Lord. Register Online.
SAMPLE RETREAT SCHEDULE

Friday
4 p.m. | Session I
5:30 p.m. | Reception
6 p.m. | Dinner
7:30 p.m. | Session II
9 p.m. | Reception

Saturday
Morning
8 a.m. | Breakfast and Quiet Time
9 a.m. | Session III
10:15 a.m. | Break
10:30 a.m. | Session IV
Noon | Lunch
Quiet Time with the Lord
Explore the Lake
Fellowship with Sisters

Saturday
Afternoon & Evening
3 p.m. | Session V
4:15 p.m. | Break
4:30 p.m | Session VI
5:30 p.m. | Reception
6 p.m. | Dinner
7:15 p.m. | Session VII
9 p.m. | Reception

Sunday
8 a.m. | Breakfast and Quiet Time
9 a.m. | Session VIII
11 a.m. | Closing
Accommodations & Pricing
Journey to Joy retreat packages include:
- All retreat sessions
- Two nights of lodging at historic Lambuth Inn at Lake Junaluska
- Five meals (from dinner on the first night through breakfast on the last morning)
Package pricing ranges from $296 per person with four people sharing a room to $475 per person for a single occupancy room.
Registration
Register online at the links below. For assistance, contact the Lake Junaluska reservations team at [email protected] or 800-222-4930 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Testimonials
“Leigh is a true professional. She is a powerful speaker, engaging and warm. She is also filled with the joy of the Lord! She conveys Bible teachings with inspiration and humor. You will stretch and grow as you spend time in God’s presence with Leigh.” –Rev. Diane Knauf, First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island.
“We sooo enjoyed the weekend with you! I took home a new perspective on living above a circumstance in my life that isn’t going to change or at least veerryy slowly, but know nothing is impossible with God.”
–PL, 2022 retreat participant
“I also enjoyed the weekend so very much! I am so grateful for what I took from the retreat! You were amazing and so were the other women I encountered! Hearing their stories really put things in perspective for me.”
–BH, 2022 retreat participant
“You have the talent to tell a story using real-life examples with a flavor of humor. It Is like putting a puzzle together.”
–AK, 2022 retreat participant
“Prayer is the only answer. Every morning during my devotion I pray for you and your ministry. God is using you to touch women and bring back the Joy in their lives. l am blessed to be one of those women.”
–LA, 2022 retreat participant
“I am not a “churchy” person, but I have learned much from digging into the scripture. This study has changed my life.”
–Kerri, 2021 retreat participant