Ladies Retreat 2012

I almost didn't go... to the ladies retreat, that is.  My lame excuses would not be heard by my husband and the Lord already had plans. Plans to work on my sinful heart and put me in a place where all I could do was sit and listen. As a Mom, I've often felt that there aren't many opportunities to sit and listen and allow the Word to penetrate my heart. Regardless of my "motherly" duties and self-assigned tasks, I was wrong to feel that way. There should be nothing more important than submitting to the Word and Work of the Lord... it's called obedience. As a Mom, I should be familiar with that term:)

The retreat was in fact a time to reflect on the work of Christ and examine the "fruit" in my own life. We worked our way through John 15:1-17 and looked deeply at how to abide in Christ. (I have lots of notes from the weekend so this entry will include many of those.) How do we live on the Word of God and have an intentional relationship with Him? We struggle with our reflexes/impulses... those marks of original sin left in our heart; our deeply rooted habits of ugliness that are our natural responses when things get tough. These reflexes keep us from abiding in Christ and they are driven by our evil desires. Prideful thoughts, selfishness, anger, past experiences, etc. The list is long, you know. We all have those areas in our life that seem to take over and often choke us. BUT, praise God. Even when it's tough. Even when we don't see fruit. Even when we are being pruned. We can trust in our great God. We can fight these impulses by recognizing and realizing our hope for real change through Christ!

So how do we abide? What is the secret to change? Remember. Pray. Obey. We have to stay connected with Him. We have to remember the words of the Lord and the promises He has made. Over and over He proclaims His great love for us and reminds us that we are His people, made for His glory. But what glory are we bringing Him when we don't even know His word? What glory are we bringing Him when don't serve His bride? What glory are we bringing Him when we don't love others. What glory are we bringing Him when "me first" is our philosophy? We must remember. We must pray. Not pray on occasion and when it's convenient or when we think we need something. We should pray for real change in our hearts and attitudes, knowing that we can do nothing apart from Him. Praying connects us with our creator. When we are connected, we will see our sin more clearly. When we see our sin more clearly, we can fight against it better. God is sovereign, even over my sin. We must pay attention and obey. Obedience will bring about change. I know that change is what I need.

Our teaching times were so rich and such a blessing. We had additional sessions where we were led through the scriptures as they relate to anger, selfishness, and suffering and how we can still abide in Christ and trust His word during these times. We also had time set aside for personal reflection. We were given a sheet of paper that had these questions:

*If you are honest, whose words do you tend to listen to the most?
*As you look at your daily life, what are some of the reflexive ways you respond when you are squeezed?
*Pick one of your reflexive ways of responding -
Remember: (What is one important truth you need to remember?)
Pray: (Write out a prayer to God - how do you need His help?)
Obey: By the Holy Spirit, what are some specific things you can do differently?)

I have to admit, I have alot of "reflexes" that show up in my life. My prayer is to work through them with the help of my family and sweet sisters like these:

We had such a great weekend and I'm thankful I did in fact go to the retreat. Even though I'm not a "mountain girl" I have to admit how easy it is to just be in awe of our Creator, especially with a view like this: