Delight Retreat | Part 2

I was up bright and early at 6a Friday morning because my body was on Eastern time & thought I had overslept! After showering, I walked down to the kitchen, camera & Bible in hand to capture the stunning landscape set before me & worship our God who is so full of majesty. Emily was working hard to lay a delicious smorgasboard for our breakfast, worship music was softly playing in the surround sound & other early birds were chatting with eachother or having some quiet time with the Lord. It was so peaceful and quiet and I just sat in awe of the Lord for sometime that morning before I began reading his word. 

I wrote in my journal >> "I feel like as much as God brought me here to be stretched & to grow personally, I'm also here to be used in other girls lives. And maybe in the lives of the leaders as well. Simply to LOVE, encourage, pray, share burdens & point to JESUS. Because I'm learning to let HIM satisfy my soul, I can focus on people & situations outside of me."

That morning was when I began to see my purpose for being there. My purpose was OTHERS. To let Jesus flow through me -as inadequate as I might be- to others. 

Kristin confirmed this when she later pulled me aside to share that she saw I was specifically there to be the love & light of Christ to those who were hurting. That's a lot to live up to, and in my own strength I would have already failed. But thankfully, since it was all about Jesus anyway, all I had to do was let Him love people through me. 

"The Lord REIGNS, He is robed in MAJESTY." Ps. 93:1

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the MOUNTAINS were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, YOU are GOD." Ps. 90:1-2

After leading worship that morning, Chachie shared her testimony & how God had replaced the fears in her life with Himself & His love.

 Kristin had been planning for months to center the retreat around finding our identity in Christ. But just one week before we all flew in, God laid it on her heart that the weekend was supposed to be about the strongholds we let FEAR have on our lives. We reach out to find treasures to fill voids & hide fears when what we really need is Jesus-- who can complete us & give us strength in Him. Satan wants us to be alone in our fears but Jesus shows us how there is strength in the fellowship of believers (Ecl. 4:9-10; Prov. 7:17).

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 2:7

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." [in Christ Jesus, because of the cross, we have been FORGIVEN & our punishment taken from us] 1 John 4:8

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation." Psalm 62:5-8

After morning devotions & personal quiet times, we gathered back to be briefed on a photography project. I was paired with Mackenzie and we set off to get to know eachother, capture 5 images of eachother & 5 images of our surroundings! It was a fun exercise that got everyone in the mood for photoshoots... which is a good thing since next on the agenda was personal headshots & photographing eachother!! We spent 45 minutes purtying up, deciding on outfits & curling hair. Borrowing & loaning this & that to make sure everyone was ready! Nicole & Tash were amazing & set the tone of the afternoon with their upbeat personalities! The weather was gorgeous & spontaneous dance parties kept breaking out thanks to some upbeat music! I mean seriously, why don't I take an iPod dock to every photoshoot?!!

Mid-afternoon we took a break from photoshoots to get some group photos and then many of us headed back out to shoot some more before being pulled in for dinner! Karen & Tasha shared their testimonies/life stories with us that night... again touching on the fears that had weighed them down at different times through life. Then we split off into small groups for a while. I loved small group time because we talked about anything & everything, spiritual & non-spiritual, deep & superficial (though mostly deep) & were incredibly real with eachother. You would think that a group of 28 people at a retreat really isn't that big but when it comes to sharing deep matters of the heart, you need smaller numbers & I'm so thankful Kristin gave us times to connect in that way. 

Bedtime was put off till later that night as we said our goodbyes to Tasha & sat editing, eating ice cream & fellowshipping with eachother. 

...to be continued...

(read part one HERE)