I serve as the retreat coordinator for a wonderful ministry and family, Reb and Bev Bradley, of Family Ministries. We recently had a Women’s Retreat, titled, ‘Falling in Love with God’. About 50 women spent a weekend immersed in singing the hymns, and either being reminded of, or learning for the first time, God’s love for them.
The retreat team leadership is comprised of twelve women who exhibit different skill sets and talents. Michelle is the decor queen. She always transforms the rooms into something beautiful and special. This year, she used birds, branches, and music sheets to tie in the focus on Worship and song…
This is Linda, managing the registration table. The branches contains prayer tags. On each tag is the name of a women attending the retreat. Each woman picks a name and that is the woman she will pray for over the year…
Bev had these little Victorian style ceramic boxes that she gifted to everyone, along with a personal note from her.
A few of the teens that attended the retreat made these stars out of song sheets. Each woman took one home with her.
Setting up the main room. Each chair had a blank tote bag. Inside the bag was a folder with a welcome letter, shcedule, and a pen. There was also a Family Ministries catalog, and a bottle of water…
A craft table was to be set up with items to decorate the tote bag with. I just took a stencil and pen and did this on mine…
My friend, Stacy, is in charge of the icebreaker and Friday night Karaoke!
I love this picture…united in sisterhood and friendship in Christ.
There was a lot of sharing. Marci, our hike leader, shared this heart rock she found, as well as sharing breaking free from a stronghold she had for a long time. God is amazing!
As the retreat coordinator, I tend to all the logistics. This makes it a different experience for me as it does the typical attendee. Regardless, God worked out some mighty things in me during this weekend. The process just extended a little longer into the week.
Here are some the points of impact from Bev’s sessions…
-Trusting in Jesus, recognize that it’s going to get dark. How can we trust if we are never placed in a situation that requires us to trust in Him? God is God. It’s going to be hard. He will provide.
-What do you have to lose not saying ‘yes’ to Him?
-You were created to be amazed by Him. I believe this 100%. We were made for Him, to adore Him, to be amazed by Him.
-Don’t seek answers; seek Him. I recently read a quote by Graham Cooke that was similar, like ‘Don’t seek God’s will; just seek God.” This is so true! If we stop worrying and stressing over what His will is for us or seeking specific answers, and we focus on Him and our relationship with Him, we can trust the He will provide and guide on His terms, in His timing.
-You can’t (fully) love someone you don’t trust. You can’t (fully) love someone who isn’t safe.
-The greatest enemy of love is self.
John 10:4 “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (I think if I were to pick the one verse that Bev would want to make sure everyone knew and applied, it would be this one. We need to know our Shepherd’s voice. We need to know Jesus’s voice. Then, we would know if what we hear is not from Him, but from a stranger, and flee…)
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (This is when Jesus met the woman at the well. There is such richness in this whole conversation with her. It is a whole sermon in and of itself.)
Ephesians 3
Psalm 34
Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
Song of Solomon 1:8 “If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.” (We need to follow the tracks of those who have walked with the Lord; in trial and in triumph.)
Martin Luther: “When I cannot pray, I always sing”
1 Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Lamentations 3:22 “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” (Bev said that the Hebrew word for ‘compassion’ is a verb. It means ‘to touch with mercy’.)
Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
DO NOT CLAIM YOUR WEAKNESS AS YOUR IDENTITY! Do not walk one more day crippled by a bad identity. God is worthy of your trust. Weakness came to you so His strength is to be manifest.
Psalm 32:8-9 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
Psalm 139 Read the whole Psalm. Note: There needs to be dark.
Pray for faith to trust Him more.
Do not consider them trials. Consider them bridges.
Psalm 149:1 “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.”
Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”
Only God has both power and authority.
Love is something that can be taught. We can learn through the Holy Spirit to be affectionate toward others.
Love suffers. When we love, we take down our protection and become vulnerable.
Psalm 95:6-7 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,
Psalm 63
Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,”
Psalm 59:16 “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.”
John 16
Psalm 31:9 “Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.”
The first step in recognizing the gospel is the dependency on Christ.
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The area where the Holy Spirit worked with me….
- Connecting with and focusing on the person standing before me. Stay in the present and not get distracted over the mental ‘to do’ list. Trusting God to choreograph the weekend and not me.
A fantastic end to a fantastic weekend…
My good friend and retreat roomie, Crystal, rode with me to the retreat and joined me for lunch in Nevada City after. She gave me a few cues that made me think she might be pregnant, so I suggested she get tested before she got home. She was game, so we stopped at a grocery store in Grass Valley. I picked an expensive test, but she said to pick a cheap one. So, I pulled a cheap one and she took the test. She called me into the restroom and we thought it might have been positive, but it was hard to tell. So, I went back and bought her the expensive one; the one that actually spells out the words (not)pregnant. We picked up a Large 7up, and drove to Loomis, where she took another test in the Taco Bell. She’s PREGNANT! When I dropped her off at her home, her husband was there and she shared the news with him. It was sweet of her to include me in this special announcement.