Shabby

Monday, April 14, 2014

Drawing Near


I just came away from a weekend with The Lord and I think a part of me is grieving.  I thirst for the uninterrupted time in His presence with others that are experiencing Him too.  It is calm, it is relaxing, it is absolutely beautiful.  It's amazing how loud his voice is when the world is quiet.  Practicing the discipline of silence and solitude is something that our culture runs from.  We can't tolerate the stillness...we feel like we need to "do" in order to have a meaningful life.  I started practicing these disciplines about a year ago and it was amazing to see how easy it was to turn off the world this weekend.  It was a difficult thing in the beginning for this extremely extroverted girl.  But I have the dearest friend who prayed and guided me as I began.  I highly encourage you to check out Hopewood Retreat Ministries (www.hopewood.org) and challenge yourself to give God the time and space to speak to you.  These retreats are doctrinally sound, they are open to men and women of any age, they are semi guided but you are free to do whatever you need to in order to hear from The Lord.  Dan and I would love to share more about what we've learned from our retreats and why we think they are essential for every believer.  I'm already looking forward to the next women's retreat in August and the next coed retreat in October.  Won't you join me?

Until the next time :-), C