Retreat: Part 2

Ok, retreat part 2...uh.....AMAZING!!!

The above picture is of me and three of the most amazing women I know....my only problem is there are about 5 other women who should have been in that picture.  Hopefully after next years retreat, I will have a pic of us all to share with you.

SO, retreat....Faith, Hope, Love...that was our theme.  I knew that going in, and I knew that there were going to be three workshops that ran simultaneously on each of those three subjects, it was so hard for me to figure out what one I was supposed to go to, all the way up until the first night there, then God made it clear to me where I needed to go.  I went to: Love. My wonderful friend taught the class, she did an amazing job! I am so thankful for her. So, her class reminded me of some things I had neglected, but you know how sometimes, the journey is way better than the destination....it was kind of like that for me this weekend.  I don't know that I would say that being there and fellow shipping was better than the class...it's more like it was just as good as the class. The Lord spoke to me through so many avenues this weekend, and I am so thankful for such an amazing God!

One thing I will touch on is that things get crazy sometimes in a marriage, mine is certainly no different.  Going to this retreat in the midst of a very hard time for me and my man, I needed to step back and see things for what they really were.  A couple things I was reminded of was that I am not God to my man, and I need to quit trying to do God's job....it's God's job, not mine. My job is to be there for my man, loving him and supporting him....God's job (and my man's) is the rest.  It was almost liberating for me to realize that is what I have been doing. Well, maybe not almost...it IS liberating. 

Another thing God showed me, which may not make sense to a lot of people, is, I have a little guy who gets pretty emotional and when he is on overload, he really breaks down....and the way I calm him is to take his face in my hands, make him take a deep breath, make him look me in they eyes and I gently tell him, "It's o.k., everything is going to be just fine...you need to calm down, it's o.k." Well, as you can imagine, THAT exact thing is what I felt the Lord telling me this weekend, I "felt" HIM cup His hands around my face, tell me to focus on Him, keep breathing, and tell me, "It's o.k., everything is going to be just fine, just focus on me, it's o.k."  MAN, I love the Lord!!! I am so thankful He is in control of my life!!

Well, that was a couple of highlights of my retreat....there really is so much more, like ladies being baptized in the ocean, ladies being baptized in the lake, good food, speed loving, fellow shipping till the wee hours of the morning and laughing harder than I have in a long while....so much fun, so little words.

Hope you all have an amazing day! <3

Retreat: Part 1

I decided to go ahead and post about retreat, before retreat. :-) It never ceases to amaze me how amazing God's timing is.  With so much personal "junk" going on, and really feeling, well...not the greatest I have ever felt, I am soooo thankful to have this retreat to...retreat to.  I need my battery recharged!  I know that with as much warfare as we have had, me and my family....my friends and their families...etc....that God is going to do something amazing this weekend, and I can't wait.  I can't wait for the car ride there with my "sisters", I can't wait to "get away from it all" and have time to truly focus completely on God, and listen for His direction.  I know part of my "junk" is my own doing, my own bad attitudes, my own wrong reaction to things....the thing about retreat is, you have a set apart time to refocus and get down and dirty with God and ask Him to really help you get the self control you need TO respond to life properly...THAT is what I am looking forward to. I can't wait for the lessons I will learn this weekend, the relationships that will grow deeper, and the car ride back with my sisters.  I know that if we will just let go, if we will just leave the cares of life behind and focus on the joys of life instead, if we will let God have complete control (yes I said control) of our weekend...in fact, our lives....that nothing but amazing things can and will happen.  No, not a life without issues, or "junk" but a life that is SO focused on HIM that we can see His hand at work in those "junky" times and sing a song of love, joy, and thanksgiving in our heart, knowing HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!!!
I kind of feel like I am rambling a bit, but I just want to say, I am sooo looking forward to retreat, and I can't wait to tell you all about it when we get home.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I gotta be better about this

Yes yes, I know, it has been forever since posting, and frankly, I am not sure anyone even reads these things, but that's ok.  We have been so busy it's ridiculous. Lots of changes in our family.  We have a son who is leaving for bootcamp in the next couple of month...can't believe it's already about that time, we recently felt the Lord asking us to step out in faith and move on from where we have been going to church for YEARS!!!  I just want to take a moment to address that... We have been members of our church for years...as a matter of fact, Erik was heavily involved in ministry...I was involved, but mostly as a help mate recently....anyway, we felt the Lord calling us out from there and it was one of the most difficult things we have ever had to obey HIM in...we love that church, we love those people, we love the teaching...it did not make sense to us, but it was clear clear clear that we had to step away and it is purely a step of faith.  We don't really know what's next, but we ARE trusting God and taking it a step at a time.  It really is important to me that people who know us and know the church know that there was not some big bad thing that happened or that we were unhappy or anything like that, I really don't want rumors to get started...we just had to be obedient and that's that. We are completely excited about the future, the present is a little hard because it's new, but we know HE has a future and a purpose for us...please keep us in prayer.
Other than that, there is not a lot, but yet a lot going on....anybody know what that's like?? :-) I (again) am going to try to be better about posting...until next time, everyone have a great day....IT'S GOOD FRIDAY....Praise the Lord for my SALVATION!!