Fill Us With Your Glory!
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 at 12:15PM How lovely is Your Dwelling Place, Oh Lord, God Almighty!
Wow! What a weekend we had together up at Covenant Pines in McGregor, Minnesota! This was the second of two retreats and God blessed us more than I can say.
Over and over again, God chose to remind us that we are LOVED and we are CALLED. My words were met with great warmth, enthusiasm, and excitement. When you have a group that shows up, expects God to move and wants to hear what He has to say, you have a recipe for a compelling time. This is a picture of the beautiful, empty Covenant Pines Chapel, just waiting to be filled with ready and expectant women. Such women showed up and God blessed us beyond measure!
Once again, worship was absolutely powerful, led by Andrea Lupino. If you need an excellent worship leader for your event, check my previous post for her information. She is a delight and an anointed leader.
At every session we were ushered into God's presence with powerful, heartfelt worship. We laughed and cried together, and above all, we were reminded of the importance of belief. We must believe that we are the object of God's love. We must believe that He sings over us, and dances over us, and calls us to His side. We must believe that we are everything to Him and can do all things through Him. We must refuse doubt, worry, and insecurity, and cling tightly to the fact that we are made in His image, and made to do great things.
We will sometimes be called to do things beyond our reach - wild, exciting, scary things. And we will at times be called to do things that seem beneath us, because this is how Jesus always lived.
These are critical days in which we live and it's both our privilege and responsibility to know our worth and to know that we're called.
Thank you, ladies for a divine time, celebrating our Beloved.
I love you all!
Now share with me, some of your own God stories!
Reader Comments (4)
Why I Didn't Attend the MOPS Convention
As many of you know, I really struggled with my decision to attend the MOPS National Convention this year. I signed up back in June, but all along felt that God was telling me not to go. I felt like I was going to God as my Father, and asking Him permission to go, but He was saying no and I needed to obey that. At the end of August, that feeling was very strong and after much prayer I did cancel.
Many times we do not discover God's reason for wanting us to go or stay in situation like this, and I was fine with not knowing if that was part of God's plan. However, some things happened that made his reason for me to stay home very obvious. First, Chris had a severe panic attack the week that I was supposed to leave, then ended up with a terrible case of strep throat and was overall feeling very sick. Bethany was also really struggling with her fear of clouds/rain/storms and was just beginning some therapy that week. Those two things alone were more than enough for me for reasons to stay home. However, God had more in store.
That weekend, Chris overheard that there were still openings at the Covenant Pines Women's Retreat and really thought I should go. That retreat always falls the weekend after MOPS Convention, so I have not gone in the past, not wanting to be away from home two weekends in a row. Chris talked me into going, saying that this was a good chance for me to go since I didn't go to Convention and that I should take advantage of it. He has gone to two Men's Retreats and both have had a huge impact on him.
I left for the Women's Retreat last Friday, Sept. 29. There was part of me still hesitating to go, but I was convinced that I should be there. Our speaker was Susie Larson, and her message was all about the value of being a woman of God, God's love for us, and trusting Him. I had heard her onee before as a speaker for one of our Women's Ministries events and was very touched by her story and testimony. She shared that same story on Fri. night at our opening session, and again I was touched by it. However, Saturday, she dug deeper and I felt completely renewed in my relationship with God. I very strongly felt His presence, could hear His voice around me, and could feel His arms wrapped around me. I think it is the most close I have ever felt to God and that feeling still continues. Part of her talk on Sat. night involved us in prayer and listening for God's voice and then to write out His response to us. This was my second time doing this, as we also did it at the event, but this time I completely let go and let God speak. It was amazing. She also shared a love letter from God with us which was written directly from the Scriptures and boy, what an impact that had on me.
Before I left on Sunday, I felt the need to speak to Susie personally and to tell her the story of how I didn't go to Convention and how I was led to the retreat. I shared with her how deeply I was impacted and how renewed I felt. She told me that in her experience, when God changed what would be your normal path (for me, that would be going to Convention) and leads you on another, He is preparing you for something that might be changing. At that time, I did not realize how true her words were.
When I got home on Sunday, I tried to share with Chris and the girls some of what I experienced. It was hard to put into words, but they did know that I felt very in love with the Lord and that I was so thankful for being able to go to the retreat.
Again, I thought that was enough of a reason to go to to Convention. I had the panic attack, the strep throat, Bethany's fears, and the incredible retreat. I even e-mailed Greta, my MOPS Co-Coordinator, to let her know I wanted to share this much at the steering team meeting we had planned for Tues. evening. However, God still had more.
The next night, Chris, Bethany, and Kimary were getting ready to go to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and Chris was reluctant to go. This is unusual for him as he normally really looks forward to it. The girls convinced him to go because they didn't want to miss it. I could tell that something was really wearing down on him. I knew he had a bad day at work,but his mood just seemed very dark and on his way out, he said that he really hated where he is right now. I was left wondering where he was coming from with that remark.
I put Christina to bed a little early and spent some time in my Bible that night. I also went to the computer to a website where they have the love letter from God that was read at the retreat. I wanted to print it out for Chris to read because I felt like he really needed God' s love. When I got to the site anc clicked on the download button, I wasn't prepared to actually hear the text read as it was downloaded, but that' s what happened. So, I heard the letter a second time and cried through it still deeply feeling God's love, strength, and presence.
When Chris and the girls got home, he told me that he needed to talk to me after we got them into bed. He was still very down and I was a little surprised that BSF didn't help lift his spirits….I felt like I was seeing his depression seeping back in.
After the girls went to sleep we sat in the living room and talked until midnight. Chris' first words to me were that he thought we should end our relationship because he didn't want to hurt me or make me put up with him any more. He then went on to explain that his depression was indeed back and that he had broken down at BSF. His small group leader talked with him and helped him through the evening. His realization that his depression and that that goes with it were back was enough to make him want tell me that he would understand if I didn't want to go through it with him again.
Now, normally, those words would have made me break down and cry and I probably would not have been able to talk through too much in the heat of the moment. However, I could feel God sitting right with me and giving me the strength and words that Chris needed that night.. Susie Larson battled depression in her life as well, and she actually said the same thing to her husband. She shared his response to her, and those words came to me and I was able to calmly and lovingly respond to Chris. By the time we went to bed, he knew that he was going to be able to get through this and that I would be right by his side. I am still amazed at that night and how powerful God's strength and peace are.
God is still at work in all of this and Chris is doing incredibly well. The next day he called his doctor and restarted his anti-depressant. He also talked with his therapist over the phone and set up an appointment with him. And, another blessing straight from God's hand, is that Chris's BSF leader attends a church that has a support group for men battling depression and Chris' other issues. He called him with the phone number and Chris will be starting to go this week. All of those things happened so quickly and we see God at work through it all. What a loving, powerful, merciful, and faithful God we have!
God truly honored us with His presence that weekend!
I pray that your husband finds full and total healing from his depression.
And just for the record, though I did struggle with mild depression at one point during my journey, the story where I begged Kevin to let me go happened because I had just come off of six months of bedrest only to be facing much more time in bed due to a potentially debilitating disease. I loved Kevin so much that I didn't want him to have to sacrifice any more. Thankfully, he had the love of Jesus in his heart and overwhelmingly pledged to go through the valley with me.
Praise God for our loved ones!
First of all, MY VOICE IS SWEET AND I AM LOVELY! (the voice part was never a difficulty for me to grasp, the 'lovely' part, however...)
In the letter from God on Saturday evening, He reminded me that He has placed two men in my life through whom He has tried to love me over and over. One is my earthly Father who has always been a very good example of my Heavenly Father: meek, strong, tender, tenacious in his love of me. The other is my husband, who has followed through with every vow to provide for me, love me, honor me, and stick with me though whatever. Your story about Kevin's response to your request to let you go reminded me of my husband's committment to me. So why have I tried so hard to reject that love?
When God 'wrote' that He had given me those two gifts to literally be His instruments of love for ME, it broke me. I still tear up to think of how I have stubbornly stood with my back to my Lord and assumed I could serve Him effectively with that posture.
I have been married before. I married my first husband pretty much because I thought I had to. He had raped me - rather violently - and I thought that since I had 'become one' with him, I had to marry him. Needless to say, the marriage was horrible and remained violent leaving me with little self-esteem. The one who should have loved me, beat and rejected me again and again. Many of those scars have made me tough emotionally. But God wasn't done getting His love through to me. Layer by scabby layer, He is reaching and healing my spirit.
Because of the words of your mouth and through the passion you exhibited for our well-being that weekend, I have begun to turn my face to my husband and to actually hear the love of my God through my sweet husband's words and actions. Nothing has changed...except my heart/spirit.
Thank you for teaching me to soften my heart. To stop protecting myself from a God who wants GOOD things for me, not evil. I am returning to my First Love!
Keep on keepin' on, girlfriend! Your faithfulness will be returned to you in blessings a hundredfold!