Finding your joy...

"...the joy of the Lord is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10

I wanted to take a few days to "digest" my weekend away before writing about it. There was so much I took away from my women's retreat - I wanted to make sure my summary was thoughtful & somewhat inclusive :)

I was able to leave Raleigh around 1 last Friday. My solo road trip got a lil' old by the time I reached Jacksonville & could hardly see through the pouring rain. As I made my way through Swansboro into EI, the sky was coming in black behind me - at best, I finally got about 10 min. ahead of the storm.

Before heading to the beach house, I made a detour to visit Seth's dad & some of his family who were also down there on vacation. The house they were staying in was beautiful & it felt very cozy to be there amongst family - it was a very nice visit & made me a lil' hesitant to get on to my final stop.

At any rate, I finally made it around 6ish, thus beginning my "S.O.S. 2009" weekend w.my sisters from Holland's. "S.O.S." - Sisters Overcoming Stress was the theme. Our circle is comprised of women ranging from mid-20's to late 30's - all married, most w.small children - making that theme very relevant!

There were 4 scheduled programs for the weekend & while there's neither time nor space here to fully engage all of them, some high points I took away were:

• living joyfully & finding blessings
  
• living a God-centered life and letting everything follow from that
• striving for progress, not perfection

Living joyfully & finding ways to rejoice in our every day lives was Saturday morning's program. This was appropriately led by Ashley (wife & mother of 2) who is easily one of the most "joyful" people I've ever met. I accused her of as much during her program :) - everyone nodding along in agreement. She was humbled by this acknowledgment & with tears in her eyes explained that she grew up w.some of the most positive, joyful influences - her mother & a grandparent- who always seemed able to manage their lives & radiate joy at the same time. We all commended her for emulating that so well in her own life - she's an example to everyone around her. One of Ashley's sons has autism & I only know the tip of the iceberg of the struggles their family faces b/c of this. This is the 1st year he's in a "regular" class & she's been waiting every day for the bomb to be dropped that "he's just not able to keep up" or "he's just not ready for this." As tears were streaming down her face she showed us his spelling sheet from a couple of weeks ago. Not only is he keeping up, but he's excelling! In their world, in her son's world, this has definitely brought joy & thanksgiving. Even in the simplest thing, a great joy was found - mastery of spelling words! In our notebook, there was space to list some personal goals for "growing in your ability to live joyfully" and feeling inspired hearing Ashley's story,I had little trouble coming up with an action plan & I'm proud to say that implementation has already begun :).

The 2nd highlight- living a God-centered life, was from my program- "What's on your plate?".

Hard at work :)



The short & sweet, if you're putting Him 1st & knowing that He will give you the strength you need - what's left to worry about? Some verses I used that for this were:

Matthew 6:34:
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

Isaiah 40:31
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Mark 12:30-31
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with ALL THY STRENGTH: this is the first commandment.

And speaking about how to use our strength, develop order in our lives & learning to "live our priorities" - The Clarity Principle:

Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Following from that verse, I think this conclusion embodies & explains a wonderfully relevant "roadmap" for how to implement this:

When you truly put first things first, all other things fall in line. Confusion dissipates. Decisions are much less difficult. If an activity or commitment fits with what you value most and what you believe God is calling you to do, the answer is yes. If an activity or commitment doesn’t fit with your priorities, the answer is an unapologetic no. Instead of feeling torn, you can rest in the knowledge that you are right on target—putting your energy where it needs to be.

Life is much simpler when your values and decisions are clear and your decisions clearly support your values.

Excerpt taken from: From Clutter to Clarity: Simplifying Life from the Inside Out © 2007 by Nancy Twigg

I read that last sentence ("life is much simpler...") about 3 times aloud during my program - it resonated that much w.me. Very simple, but very profound. A worthy goal and mantra to live by.

The last high point was a great conclusion for all the above - seeking progress, not perfection. Thank goodness God got the perfection part out of the way by sending Jesus - we're off the hook! He knew we couldn't be perfect & doesn't expect us to be - why should we give ourselves an expectation of something we were never meant to be? What a sigh of relief to be reminded of this!

I love it - one of the women kept echoing about a recurring conversation/argument she has w.her husband. When it gets particularly low & "below the belt", he often pauses her by simply asking, "Is it painful?" In this case, the implied "it" is perfection. She said she always comes back w. a quip of her own or feels undermined when he asks this. It finally hit me about the 4th time she said this aloud - I told her she should just answer with, "Yes!". I know living under my own guise of having everything under control or within my grasp is painful - it's a burden that I don't have to bear, it's an expectation I can never meet, so it is in fact a painful existence sometimes. Like I said, a relief to be reminded that perfection is not my goal - progress & moving forward - maintaining...those should be the goals we have. Perfection was never meant to be in our reach in the 1st place! Wonderful to be re-enlightened of this :)

All in all, it was a very Son-filled weekend w.lots of fellowship, tears & laughter. I am so thankful for this group of women. It is a blessing to be able to share both joys & sorrows w.such loving & faithful friends.

Thanks to Seth & John for being kind enough to let me go for the weekend :). My boys are wonderful & I'm so thankful to have their wonderful, smiling faces to come home to each day. God is so good and my blessings abound...

"...open your eyes and see - how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him."
Psalm 34:8