Beautiful Journey
We Minnesotans spend time discussing and planning in the early winter months where to vacation for spring break. We tend to opt for places that are warm, dry, and entertaining but sometimes getting away for a week is next to impossible. I know. It is the same story of who will do the farm chores, no vacation available from your employer, other commitments, and not enough money. I am here to tell you that if you have an opportunity to travel for a ladies church retreat, I highly recommend it. They are usually low cost, short time commitments, easy to drive to, and it is good for the husband to manage the homestead for one day. Right ladies?
This is my second year of attending and honestly I did have a lot of reservation the night before leaving about even going on this trip. I had just discovered that the keynote speaker, Pam Fleming, author of Lemons and Lace , was going to share with us how she found joy after her cancer, her husband committing suicide, death of a baby, and depression. Whoa. This was just going to raw for my heart to handle. I am crier and an emotional type of person. For you see, I was diagnosed 05-16-2016 with stage #3a breast cancer and as a result went through mastectomies, 4 complete rounds of chemo, my first chemo treatment didn’t count because I had an anaphlatic reaction and it was stopped, and 6 weeks of radiation and long term meds. I live it everyday. My dearly beloved brother, Rick, committed suicide in 1994. I think of him everyday. The list goes on. I did not want to cry the whole weekend! I wanted to have fun and hang with the girls. After a few encouraging texts from my twin and her Pastor’s wife Cindy, I went.
Upon entering the retreat, cameras are flashing, the music playing is sweet to our ears, the aroma of food wets our palate , and the laughter of women engaged in hugs is uplifting. I am going to spend the next 24 hours with these women, some new faces, some familiar faces, and I am also in the comfort of two of my sweet sister and my niece Mercedes.
While I won’t go into all the activities of our retreat I will share with you my experience of a board, nails, and string. String art is a foreign art to me but I am open to new ideas. The concept was to wrap string around the nails which were pounded halfway into a board. The nails formed an arrow shape. The theme of retreat was “Beautiful Journey” based off scripture Jeremiah 29:11. Most followed the example board but some created their own design. ( Christ came to set the example, but others follow their own path). The point part of the arrow was easy to follow but when I actually got to the shaft and fletching part of the arrow, I had trouble. I think I unstrung mine several times and I could feel I was becoming frustrated internally. I told myself to have patience and I listened to other woman’s comments floating around. It was ok that it was not the exact same. The voices were uplifting and encouraging. (We are all different but created alike in Him) I sought out help from my neighbor next to me and I was put back on the path of restringing it so all the nails were covered. Now I have my masterpiece!
The next am, I awoke from my slumber and realized I had been dreaming about this project. That wood board was a piece of Christ cross, the nails His crucification. The arrow design was pointing me forward. All the stringing difficulties were my life journeys and no matter how much I try to rearrange those strings, I just need to remember to give it up to Him. Keep moving forward. I will continue to prepare for my “eternal vacation”
I will share with you these things that helped my retreat experience be engaging and valuable.
- Make the decision to go to retreat (make the decision to be with Christ)
- Be in the moment. (A wise person I worked with(Dr. Hughes) always reminded me to live in the moment and don’t worry about everything else.) Don’t worry about the homestead. (Set time aside for prayer and be with Him)
- Let your inner emotional walls down( this is hard to do but if you open up you will be amazed the others will share a little more freely and can give you really great advice. Woman need each other for support but Christ can support us more!
- Come hungry! (yes, the food is plentiful and you know it always tastes better when someone else cooks for you!) (Recommit yourself to study scripture)
- Reflect on your life and journal! ( Life Map) Be an inspiration to others and share!
Have a Blessed Palm Sunday!