retreat recap

All us minister's wives are home from a lovely weekend and our husbands are happy to have us back. ( Well, I hope ;-) ) I am happy to be back and spend time with my husband and start practicing the things God showed me this weekend. My massage got cancelled again- which was a bummer but I got in some outdoor reading on the mountain (the conference center is on top a mountain) a manicure, and a lovely nap. I got to spend time with the team and my mother-in law which was really quite fun. I am blessed to have an awesome mother in-law!

The first night we had a chocolate fountain party and our speaker Deborah Gill gave her testimony and spoke about relationship evangelism. Her testimony was just what I needed to hear. It's wonderful to hear about someone who went through a time of life that was devastating and came out glowing with God's love and grace. It seemed like every time I thought about what I am struggling with I felt like bursting into tears. God is really wiping that away little by little to make me feel held in His arms and cared for. I am feeling more and more peaceful and faithful about the direction he has the situation going towards. We watched some Anita Renfroe- who is hilarious and it seemed like we were at the cafeteria every 4 hours. Haha.

Sunday Deborah Gill's talk was so impactful I have been thinking about it for the past several days. I can't sum up into words the way God used her to speak directly to spiritual formation I needed. She spoke about not going empty handed to heaven. We can't bring our material things to heaven but the Bible talks about what we can. We will get "crowns" when we get to heaven filled with diamonds, gold, and precious stones and pearls. (Not literally- but they figurativly represent different things God has brought us through) Each of those will represent something we did for God that was so significant it was brought through the refiners fire. When we get to heaven we will be so grateful and will have something to give to Jesus- something we did for Him. To make a diamond you start with black lump of coal and it is squeezed to many times so tightly that eventually it turns into a beautiful clear shiny diamond. Sometimes we are squeezed by different situations and it takes time and serious work and even pain to get through. After enough squeezing- we can start to see the sparkle. My favorite illustration was the pearl. When an oyster has a thorn or piece of irritating sand- it puts out a milky substance to cover it. We can cover our "irritating people or situations" with grace. As you cover it with grace over and over- it eventually turns into a beautiful perfect pearl. Now your irritating person may not change- they may receive blessing by how you respond to them but overall you are the one who changes. I want to live a life of grace. God has given me His grace that I don't deserve. Wikipedia says that grace is receiving a positive benefit that one does not deserve to receive. Divine Grace also can be defined as God's empowering presence in ones life enabling them to do and be what they were created to do and be. How beautiful. Grace makes beauty out of ugly things. It's so beautiful remembering that each time I show someone grace, I am adding another layer to the pearl; I am being more like Christ. That is what I want to strive to do. Show others the grace Jesus has shown and is showing me. Praise God for his unending grace on me.
How can you add grace to your life?
Maybe listening when you don't feel like it, offering encouragement when you are upset, giving someone a break, the list goes on....any other ideas?

retreat

The Ministers Wives Retreat for the PennDel dsitrict is this weekend in Carlisle, Pa. from Friday to Sunday. I am excited about going. I am not typically the most social person, but the group of other wives I am going with I really enjoy hanging out with and learning from. Pastors wives work really hard and they often feel like they have to keep up appearances for the entire church- which is a huge burden. I have been blessed that I really don't feel that way- but the burden for other wives is really quite strong. Its such a blessing for us to be able to escape for a weekend and relax a little. My favorite part of the weekend is saturday. After lunch I get a massage and then retreat back to my own room for some much needed solitude, relaxation, and a nap. I truly enjoy the silence and time to be alone coupled with socializing at given times, great worship, outlet shopping, trips to starbucks or panera, and of course the laughter. I always expiereince God here and mark different levels of growth by this time of year. It's great to look back at how God dealt with me at the retreat this time last year and look at where I am today. God has His hands in it all. I still have a few areas of growth that I am really struggling with but I know He is working some things out.

My husband will be home this whole weekend alone with the puppy. I have a feeling that Zeke will be sleeping in the bed- even though he is not allowed ;-) I will be checking for puppy hair....I am secretly hoping that my husband will clean the house for me while I am away. I better not get my hopes too high- he is busy studying for class- but it would be nice. A girl can dream, right?

Well, I leave you with anticipation for this upcoming weekend knowing God is going to work in my life and the other ladies lives this weekend.

blah

So I got really sick on wednesday of last week and had a 102 fever. Good thing I went to the doctor that morning and got on some antibotics. She said a sinus infection. Boy did it feel worse than that! I had a 101 fever until Saturday. I had been home in bed for three days and needed out so ventured to Target Saturday. It was too much. So funny. I had to hold onto the cart to not feel dizzy- it was a short trip to say the least. Sunday the temp went down to 100. I skipped church Sunday as to not to try to pretend to be okay when I really wasn't- I was too tired for that. Another lethargic day on the couch alone. blah. Zeke (my dog) and I got to know each other really well- haha.
Monday I returned to work. Ugh. That was really rough trying to talk to customers when my tonsils are so swollen I actually had someone tell me they could not understand what I was saying. Embarassing! Not to mention my fever was breaking and I was sweating like crazy.
Swollen tonsils, popped ears, coughing so hard my head hurts, but worst of all the body aches and the fever. I don't get sick often but this one was a big one! Okay- I am done complaining ;-)
I found myself feeling the need to express to my co-workers that I was really so sick I could not work Thursday and Friday. It was pretty obvious Monday I was sick- but why was I so compelled to really make sure the understood? I am crazy. Just a little chronicle of the interesting things that go on when you are sick for so long....
Feeling a little better everyday. Priase God for health! :-)