April 8

Our first speaker today was Taube Lansing. She sat at our table during her time at the retreat so we all had a chance to get to know her a little during the "icebreaker" session. As much as I was trying not to focus on digital scrapbooking on this retreat, imagine my surprise when she told us how her messy handwriting was so bad even she couldn't read it sometimes. Hallelujah! Just so happens, that's exactly what I am looking for :)  In fact, I liked her handwriting so much, I asked her to write out the main Bible verse of her message for me so that I could make a digital paper out of it. Keep your eyes out for it here on my blog. I will share!!! You know that just goes to show -- God cares for us even in the little things, so much that He provided that for me. I am sure no one else probably cared that she had messy handwriting, but it made my day! I know, I'm weird :)

Before I share what her message was about, I want to share one of things that God has been speaking to me about. You know how when something in your life happens, you just HAVE to tell someone about it? Sometimes they give you good advice, but sometimes they give you advice that you know you shouldn't follow? Well, this is something that I personally struggle with -- needing, or feeling like I need to talk to someone (or many someones :) depending on the circumstances) about what I am going through. I feel like God is really trying to teach me to become more dependant on Him when these issues arise in my life, and not so much on the other someone(s). Does that make sense? Well it's what Taube spoke to us about tonight so maybe it will make more sense after I explain that :)

Taube said that she had a message for the weary. Amen, sister, preach on! I need to hear a message for the weary...cause this is one weary momma! First of all, what does it mean to be weary? Weary means to be exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness; having one's patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted. Yep, that's me alright. I am sure you all can relate, too! So this is a normal feeling, right? Of course! So here's how to deal with it, or rather the temptations to avoid when you are feeling weary.
1. Avoid the temptation to make your own plan. Think about Abraham, and Sarah when they wanted a baby. Instead of asking the Lord, they went to Hagar. God wanted to give them a child, but in his appointed time. When we force things by making our own plan, we only make it more complicated.  Proverbs 10:22 says, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." God doesn't want to give us sorrow with the blessings, we bring that on ourselves by not being patient.
2. Avoid the temptation to think that you are inadequate. What about Moses and how he said he wasn't a good speaker? Don't forget that God made you, with your inadequacies, and He can use you, inspite of them. What about the people? They complained -- the Bible likens that to hardening their hearts, and not remembering what God had done for them in the past. Moses smote the rock instead of speaking to it, as he was commanded. Numbers 20 tells us that disobedience is the same as unbelief, and Moses did something rash, based on his heightened emotional state.
3. Avoid the temptation to doubt your faith in times of darkness, forgetting what God gave you in a time of light. Job was a great example of someone who praised God even through the times of darkness in his life, and his life was definitely much darker than mine, ever! We have to be very careful who we talk to during these times of darkness in our life -- our "friends" can cause us to doubt God's provision and our faith.  We have to surround ourselves with people who won't questions God's goodness and at the same time not be condemning toward us, like Job's "friends" were when they told him that he must have been a horrible sinner. Job was a great example of true patience - which in his situation can be defined as staying in the wilderness until God's appointed time, wanting nothing.

What really struck me during her message was that I don't and shouldn't need to run to everyone else with all my problems, because first of all, they can't do anything about them! God is in control of my life and he is orchestrating every circumstance within it -- my focus needs to be on Him.

We had a wonderful time of worship with some of my favorite songs. Our worship leader, Leah Taylor, shared a beautiful song called Passover with us. I can't wait until she releases that one! Anyway :) She said something that really spoke to me as well -- "Our reactions determine our reach." and  "War and destruction are inevitable, but so is God's final victory." I hope that I can remember these two quotes. I wrote them on a post-it and put it out where I would see it everyday. Maybe I should do this as a word art for my digi-kit....

Our second speaker today, Heidi Nadolny, has got to be, hands-down, one of the most beautiful and godly women I have ever met. Ever. She is one of those women that you can look at, and you are just like, "Wow, I want what she has!" By that, I mean her desire to please the Lord, and the joy you can sense just by being in her presence. She has a contagious smile and such a sweet spirit. She had a powerful message to share with us, too. It was exactly what I needed this weekend. She spoke about Leah and her struggles with rejection. As uncomfortable as it is, that's something we all experience, isn't it? Rejection. From our parents, our spouses, our friends, even our children. 1 Peter 3: 12-14 tells us that we can give God our hurts and rejections because we can completely trust Him. (See also Psalm 116:1-2; Psalm 37:4; and Ephesians 4:31-32) Leah experienced some MAJOR rejection in her life, and yet she was not bitter toward the people who hurt her. She praised the Lord, and continued to focus on Him, and not was she wished she had. She had joy (Psalm 118:9) and hope (Psalm 39: 7-8). She learned that God would defend her, and exalt her. We must not do that ourselves -- Let God do it for you. (John 8:4) We have to do right, even when other people are doing wrong to us. Leah's 8th son was named Zebulon, which means honor. God will restore us from the pain of rejection if we are willing to be obedient. Job 42:10 tells us that God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends and gave him twice as much as he had before!

So what can we do with our rejections?

1. Ephesians 4:32 tells us to Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another. Just remember to ask yourself this, "Jesus died for me. Can I let this go?"
2. Matthew 5:24 tells us to love our enemies.
3. Forgive them.
4. Fellowship with Christ and his sufferings. Remember that Christ suffered and was perfect. Do you really expect not to suffer? Your sufferings are nothing that Christ Himself didn't endure.
5. 1 Peter 2: 19-21 - Ask God for healing.

Remember -- YOUR worth is not determined by what other people think of you, but by what GOD thinks of you.

I John 4:19 tells us to love because He first loved us.

Heidi asked Leah to sing this song tonight, and it was perfect for what she spoke on. Love it!