Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of traveling with my favorite sister in law to a Church of Christ Ladies Retreat held at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp in Altus, Oklahoma. A dear friend of mine from my church in Stillwater had sent out a mass FB message calling our attention to the retreat because our ladies minister/secretary from the campus ministry there was the speaker. So, 4 of us made plans to attend and didn't tell her we were going to be there until we plopped down on the front row and made her day!
Not only was it good to see everyone and spend a little girl time with my seesters, but the message Sabrina brought was, of course, just what I needed to hear. I can't really pinpoint one central theme (I'm sure it was there and I just didn't put it all together), but there were so many great snippets and one liners that caught my attention that it was very refreshing. Here are a few, in no particular order:
Uno: The idea that "It's enough" - meaning, to let God use your imperfections and shortcomings to glorify Him despite your best intentions. For example, you bring a meal to someone and then realize you forgot dessert. You are headed to speak somewhere and realize your nails look awful. You look around at your house after working all day and cooking a good meal and getting the kids to bed and shame yourself because it's a total mess. God asks us to live our lives for Him, but he never expects us to be perfect, especially in the petty things that don't matter. That little phrase, "it's enough", has given me room to breathe and cut myself some slack.
Dos: The realization that God wants us to seek Him, to look in His Word, and to find Him. Yes, I've known these concepts all along, but Sabrina pointed out that the Bible isn't a big mystery- it's there in black and white. When we need a blessing from God, it's right there!!! Waiting to be discovered!!! He still speaks to us, we just need to realize that that's what He's trying to do! This became real to me Sunday night after the retreat. We are going through some crazy changes (more in another blog) and I was so completely distraught and wondering "why?" but I went to my Bible reading for the day and boom! Romans 15:4 and 13 were practically leaping off the page. 4: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Oh my word- is that not what Sabrina was talking about all weekend???) and 13: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Huge, deep breath of fresh air and assurance right there. Little did I know that 12 hours later I would need those words so much more (another post, another day).
Tres: How to study the Bible. This seems so elementary, right? You sit down in a quiet place, open, read, and pray. But, completely off topic, I thought, Sabrina had us take a quiz to determine what type of learner we are, visual, auditory, or tactile. I am highly visual: I need to read, take notes, underline, highlight. I've always said that if I don't have a pen in my hand when listening to a lecture or sermon I don't learn anything. I would recopy my notes from lectures during vet school into spirals, and I can still tell you, 9 years later, that the information on nitrate poisoning is towards the middle of the book, on the left hand side and takes up the entire page. If I ever wrote anything down wrong, I learned it wrong. But why had I never applied this to studying my Bible? Why do I not make my own notes, maybe I would memorize scriptures better. Why don't I map out Paul's missionary journeys in Acts for myself in a diagram? I always felt like underlining anything in my Bible was taboo (am I adding to scripture or making one verse more important than another by writing in my Bible??). But you know what? I sure can find Romans 15: 4 and 13 much easier now that they are underlined, with notations, and exclamation points. Such a genius idea, I may have to use that for my next bible study.
Which brings me to Quatro: Spending time with Sabrina and my girls reminded me just how much I need fellowship and friendship in my life. Confession: I have trended towards living my life as a loner lately. I am a working mom (with ridiculous hours) where the others at my church are SAHM, part time, or work normal jobs which allow them to be home on nights and weekends and spend time taking care of their families. I have an exhausting job, physically, emotionally, and mentally, where the others I know, well, don't. And in the free time I do have, I feel obligated to use to clean house, cook, and spend strictly with family, instead of selfishly wanting to go out for coffee with a girlfriend. Sabrina also reminded me of the several Bible studies she and I led or attended together during my 4 years at OSU. And, most incredibly, she told a story about a time I encouraged her through a CD I had given her, and I didn't even know it had made such an impact in her life. My point is, not only am I missing out on building Christian friendships, but how many opportunities to bless or encourage others have I missed by being becoming hermit?
With all that said, I have it in my head to, yet again, attempt to start up a ladies Bible study. My hope is that next quarter, we'll split our young adult Wednesday night class into separate men and women's classes (1. because finding a time outside of church is impossible, and 2. I don't want anyone to feel excluded by giving it a small group feel at my house). There is a ladies class at our church, but it's at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, so really, no one that works can go (read: mostly the older ladies go). My prayer is that we are all blessed, we grow together, and that we are able to dive deep into His Word. I had big expectations going into that weekend, needing to be refreshed, wanting to learn more about God, and looking forward to spending time with some great friend- I serve a God who delivers!!!
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