Unveiled Retreat

Whew . . . . there has been a lot of road traveled since I last sat down and wrote . . . . I’ll try to catch you up on the highlights . . . . .

Last weekend my Unveiled Leadership Team was away for our planning retreat.  What an AMAZING TIME!!!!  God is reworking Unveiled from the ground up!!  It is such a cool process that we are walking with Him!!!  We have a new teaching team, fresh videos, updated content, new songs . . . . it’s really neat what God is doing.  We talked, and sang, and laughed, and cried, and watched God come and bring healing to our brokenness.  It was a beautiful and powerful weekend!!!

I returned home, and like most event like that, it takes a while to get your head back into the lives that we daily live.  The saddness of leaving our retreat was strong for me, but the hope of knowing we’re going back in April is exciting to me!!!  There is just something special about getting away from the rat race and meeting with God intimately that rocks my world!!!!!

Anyways . . . . . . Monday morning comes and I’m on the way to work and I am just being hammered by God!!!  The message was very clear . . . . do not give up any ground!!!  Do not let the enemy push you backwards!!!  Stand your ground!!!  Rely on Me!!!

How many times does God do something cool, and we move forward with Him, only to have the enemy come and push us backwards?

NOT THIS TIME!!!!

He was so firm about not giving up any ground!!!  STANDING WHERE WE WERE AT AND LETTING HIM BE OUR STRENGTH!!!!!

I get to work, open my e-mail, and my team is already being pelted by the enemy!!!  So off I go, shooting out e-mails to them as fast as I can to remind them what God did this weekend was real, and good, and important, and we can’t go back to who we were, or backward to what we were doing.  As individuals and as a team we were going to move forward!!!!!

Here I am a week later and needing to hear this message LOUD AND CLEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  To much to type, but last week was not my battle ground, yesterday was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  As I look at yesterday I didn’t make the choice to run to food . . . . . there was no choice . . . . . I didn’t have 2 things before me and I chose food over God . . . . . there was amazing stress and panic and I dove, head first, into popcorn, Skittles and soup.  This morning. . . . I can’t even tell you how SICK I feel!!!!  I have a food hangover and I think I’m going to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I feel HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!  And my issues haven’t changed one bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this mornig on my way to work I am pouring out my heart to God!!!  Confession is so good for the soul!!!  As I’m praying, confessing, recommitting my heart to Him I am reminded about what He told me about drawing a line in the sand and not giving up any ground to the enemy!! 

Oh the pain of sin and failure before a holy God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the love and grace and forgiveness He offers to us . . . . and when we just don’t deserve another chance!!!!  God comes in with such love and tenderness and extends His hand to me, with such deep eyes of intimacy . . . as I place my hand in His once again He picks me up out of the muck and the mire (Ps 40) and dusts me off, and then He dances with me!!!!!  DANCES WITH ME?!?!?!?!?!? 

Shouldn’t He shake His finger at me?  Yell at me?  Tell me how disappointed He is in me?  Walk away from me?  Turn His back on me?

No . . . . He wants to restore me.  And to dance with me!!!!

Yesterday my mom wanted me to watch the movie “Nanny McPhee” with her . . . . . honoring my mother I agreed.  I have thoughts about that movie, but I won’t go into them here . . . . . I want to get to the end of the movie . . . . . . Nanny has made it snow, and it’s turned this darkened world into something very lovely . . . the “love interest” is walking towards the alter in a dress that she was wearing previously and she says, “I don’t look much like a bride” and Nanny said, “Oh you will” . . . and as she kept walking her dress began to transform into a beautiful white dress.  Isn’t that just like us?  As we walk with the Lord, He transforms us into His beautiful bride and clothes us in white!!!!!!!!  He makes us beautiful!!!  Ravishing!!!!!!!!!  Captivating!!!!!!!!!

Ahhh . . . . . we are not yet what we will be, but I’m not who I was either!!!!!!!!!!

Today, I redraw my line in the sand . . . . as I move forward I need to keep doing that!!  As God brings me into more freedom I want to live there, not go backwards!!!!  So I draw my line and learn to live here . . . . . without a face full of popcorn and fists full of Skittles!!!  I will learn to live as a women who is eating better and exercising often!!!!  What a journey . . . . . but I press on forward!!!!!!!!!!  Hope you are too . . . . .

Happy Trails . . . . . .