Women's Retreat revelations

This past weekend, I did the unthinkable, in my mind. I left Mac and Vivian and went on a weekend with a bunch of girls. I struggled with this to the point of thinking, "how can I get out of this?". I should have known that God had great things in mind for me! This weekend radically changed my life and walk. It was the pinnacle of everything that the Lord worked on for the past year and a half. Actually probably longer than that. In looking back on my life and ministry, I am sad to say that I wasn't as effective as I could have been, had I understood God's grace more. The weekend was about WALKING in grace. I am still trying to wrap my mind around everything that it means. It's so huge! Realizing who you are and what you have to offer with God's grace leading the way. Every minute of everyday, we have NO ability to glorify God. Our confidence lies completely in the Grace of God. We rely on the strength God give us for everyday. God has promised us to provide EVERY need we have. I always looked at that as an option. "Well God, if I need you, I am so glad you are there." When our thinking should be, "God I can't make it 5 minutes without talking to you and being completely dependent on you. We have this misconception that the more we learn, the more independent we will become. We have "grown" in that area. When it truly is completely opposite... the more you learn, the more dependence you have on God. Talk about a spiritual wake up. We don't have to fear because we serve a sovereign God, who will NOT abandon us. Hebrews 13. The lyric of a hymn rings in my head, "I need you every hour, Most Gracious Lord." I am beginning to realize, I DO need you Lord! Help me, please. One of the talks this weekend was about how so many words in our society mean something terrible, but in God's kingdom.. they are essential. One being the word rescued. When we view being rescued we view being taken away from the spot we are currently in. But in God's Grace, he loves us enough to rescue us by leaving us exactly where we are! WOW, how much he loves us! As a parent of a toddler, I am seeing Vivian struggling with different things and many times the best thing for her is to leave her where she is, so she can learn. I can totally see this! The heart wants to go and get her and just "rescue" her from this strain. But because I love her, I want her to learn. So, I just love her where she is to help her learn. God does the same thing with our life! I could go on and on. I want to live out the dreams that only God can dream for me. That may mean heartache and hardship, but in the end the result is secure and sure.. we will be in heaven. Wow! Praise the Lord!
If you would like to hear the messages from this weekend, they will posted sometime this week on www.northwake.com.
The pictures above are of some of the fun times we had.