Saturday, February 26, 2011

Women's Retreat--QM

I've been wanting to write for a week about my time last weekend. My sister Holly, our good friend and neighbor Katie McCord, and I went to Lakeveiw retreat center from Friday night to Sunday afternoon for a getaway with the women from our church; we ate wonderful food, played racquetball and ping-pong, swam in an indoor pool, soaked in their hot tub, and heard some powerful messages by our friend Mary Katherine Jauchen. I was so blessed and refreshed that I'd like to share a few highlights.

The song "For those tears I died":

Jesus, I give You my heart and my soul,
I know that without God I'd never be whole;
Savior, You opened all the right doors,
And I thank You and praise You from earth's humble shores;
Take me, I'm Yours.

And Jesus said, "Come to the water, stand by My side, I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied; I felt ev'ry teardrop when in darkness you cried, And I strove to remind you that for those tears I died.
I hadn't heard this song for years; frankly, it made me cry. It also reminded me that God wants to satisfy our hunger; we "won't be denied." I get discouraged by the way I have good intentions and desires but don't always follow through on them. This brings me to another highlight...

The meditation by Thomas Merton:
We received this on an index card; I stapled it into my journal because it was just that good--

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain were it will end. Nor do I really know myself; and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you."
The scripture
:

Mary Katherine's theme was Living Water from the book of John. The story that hit closest to home was from John 5:1-15, the one about the crippled man at the pool of Bethesada. The first question Jesus asked him was "Do you want to be made well?" John 5:6b. That is such a tough question--I say that I want to have a close walk with Christ, but how often am I willing to make time in the Word and in prayer a priority? Fortunately the messages not only pricked my conscience, they also reminded me that I need to rely on God's grace to do this work in me rather than merely my own efforts.

The fellowship:

I might have missed my husband and my kiddos, but spending time with my sister, Katie, and many old and new friends from FBC was well worth the time away. I now like to say that "real fellowship happens in a hot tub!" Fun times!

Now that you've read some of my deep thoughts, how about some fun pictures of what my children were doing while I was away? Ethan was busy being super-daddy!
Dorie+frosting=yummy messes
Look who is hard at work...licking the beaters! Isn't this the best job ever?
Here's a red letter day...Dorie's first game! Some day soon she might graduate to Candyland! It will probably be a few years before Settlers and Dominion!

2 comments:

  1. I love the "yummy mess" picture. Dorie's bears are dressed like her in pink. Can't wait to get a hold of sweet baby James again.

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  2. I was talking to your mom this week and mentioned how I love this blog. She said I need to tell you so. So now I did! =) Love having a peek into your lives.

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