WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK GOD TO SHOW UP?

HE DOES!!!

Well, the dates for the Ladies Retreat we were planning at our church were this past Friday and Saturday. Of course all the details worked themselves out (ha). Anyway all the things I stressed over in an earlier post are history.....pleasant history.

COLORED LENSES GROUP SHOW OFFS

LEADING WORSHIP

We started about 3:00pm setting up the room and organizing the room keys and name tags. I think five ladies plus myself and then, of course, my wonderful hubby, were there working faster than the speed of humans to get it all done. We had three ladies working on the registration table and also putting bags of chocolate goodies in the rooms for each guest, two or three ladies were working on setting up the tables, centerpieces, door prizes and journals, pens and crayons for Friday night. Les was helping bring in sound equipment and Craige, Deborah's husband set it up. (I had nothing to do with sound or music. It took me the whole weekend to figure out how to turn the cordless mic on and off without blowing out ear drums). I was trying to get the last minute things we forgot to ask for (from the hotel) and going over the things I had PLANNED to say.

We started with an ice breaker and I have to admit, it was the first and only time I have been defined by a pig...after drawing our own picture of a pig, the lady in charge of that part began to tell us what each item told us about ourselves; i.e. which way the pig faced, if it was standing or sitting, how long and curly or straight it's tail was. That was really cute. Long story short, mine said I was "direct, aggressive, emotional, a risk taker, didn't like major change" and a couple other things I won't mention. Can anyone see ANY of those adjectives in my character???

We then had about 20 minutes of worship and a friend of mine signed to "Open the Eyes of MY Heart, Lord", a song I have claimed as my plea to God for about twenty years. I cried. Then it was time for me to open and I struggled with my memory. Whether it was emotion or poor memory I can't say. We spent a lot of time enjoying each other, eating, and exploring our Great and awesome God.

For about six weeks I had been asking for clear direction on how to say the things I knew He wanted me to say. We had a very definite struggle on the fact that I would say anything at all for a while, but after thinking about the people He called in scripture to pass on His message...Moses for one, wandered in the desert for 40 years for disobeying and hardening his heart (I SURE don't have 40 years to catch on) and then Jonah checked into the "Belly of the Big Fish" hotel for three days and I don't even do Holiday Inn Express very well, I said "okay, You lead Lord". At that point, He did.

We spent the rest of the night and Saturday mostly on personal introspective communication with God and seeking His guidance for our lives. It was called "Colored Lenses" and dealt with our prejudices of scripture, or if we even believed they were true, for us. How the choices we make in our lives color our belief that God is big enough to deal with them and still save us. Most of the ladies said it was different from what they have done in the past and were pleased they came. If and when we do another one depends on many things, but mostly on His guidance. Believe me though when I say "When we ask Him to, He does show up", and in a BIG way.

Thanks to all who helped with the week end, most especially, my Father God, my Abba, and my Lord.

I Love You All