I don't think I can express how much I needed this retreat, but I'm going to try!
One of the things that we did near the beginning was answer the question "What do you want to get out of this weekend?", which I had a hard time answering honestly because the real desire of my heart was to be surprised, and have that be a good thing for once. I am happy to report that God met me with some true surprises that I honestly could not be prepared for. I thought I was going to meet with a group of people; but in fact I met with a collection of treasures that only kind of resemble people. The streets of the Kingdom have to be paved in gold to be worthy to bear the feet of such people.
From the moment I arrived I was just... swallowed... and engulfed by such kind and genuine people. Both my ability and my desire to isolate myself were stripped from me.
Oh! The worship! Thank you Jesus! I never get to take part in worship with other people that are worshiping. I've been so hungry for group worship and then suddenly it was everywhere around me. I have to start something where I live, because now that I've been exposed again, the idea of waiting for the next retreat for my next opportunity is maddening to me!
@Mojo it was wonderful to meet you in person. I feel like I have to go back and re-read all our interactions and read them in your voice now that I have a clearer picture of who you are. I have such respect for your walk and your ministry and I will be praying for your new ministry opportunity to be nothing short of a God-ordained movement in your city. Your wife reminds me so much of my own it's uncanny, I would love for them to meet at a retreat someday.
@andrew my admiration for you has only grown this weekend, which I may have already admitted in an unguarded moment, but wanted to repeat here. The only really unpleasant surprise of the weekend was how little time there was for us to get together one on one! I've set my mind to remedying that...
@nathan Thank you so much for everything you did for me this weekend. My normal way is to to be a mostly non-participant but you gave me no opportunity. You warmed me up even while I cruelly let you freeze. I owe you a fur-lined jacket, and a lot more besides!
@RonHiggins I know you won't read this, but you are a failure of a human being. Your brand of hospitality is a violation of the Geneva Convention.
@Poodles Just in case you read that, I didn't mean it. Thank you so much for the welcome you extended to me.
@Jan Louie Higgins I MEANT IT AND IT APPLIES TO YOU TOO. You really made me feel like I was at home even though I was a stranger. I cannot thank you enough.
@Ginny Hah! You're as amazing in person as you are on the forums! I don't even know if that counts as a surprise so much as a confirmation...
@julieb Oh look, yet another person who won't just let a man wander around being awkward! I'm glad to be able to put a face to all the kind words and wisdom that my wife has benefited from!
@Joleneakamama I had to save you for last. I need to try to express just how much you and your family mean to me. Your sons were nothing short of awe-inspiring to me. For a couple of quiet young men, they are filled to overflowing with wisdom and humor and talent and conviction. I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to meet someone like your husband. I liked him instantly and spent the whole weekend having my respect for him deepen with every conversation. I am so glad to have met you in person. This medium of an internet forum just cannot contain how amazing you are. You are a wellspring of resources and wisdom and a real pleasure to speak with. This weekend was filled with so many awesome encounters for me that I can't quantify them all, but nothing touched me as deeply as your boys playing the flutes and you accompanying them on the accordion performing Edelweiss/The Sound of Music. It's not much of an exaggeration to say you and your sons did for me with your instruments what David did for Saul with his lyre. Thank you so, so much. The idea that your family has neighbors that don't appreciate living so close to you offends me to my core. May God bless your family with people that appreciate you and value you for who you are.
I had many more encounters with people that don't seem to have a profile, but I'm going to leave those unsaid because I feel like I've already gushed enough. I'm going to have to leave it at: there's just so much that goes on at a retreat that the whole is so much more than the sum of it's parts. There's just no way to have a high enough opinion from the forum of people you meet online, that you won't have to reclassify them as much more worthy people after meeting them in person. And you'll be dealing with that while meeting people that are just as titanic that don't even appear on the forums.
I read here somewhere that that coming to a retreat is worth any expense, and I have to agree with that. When I think of the people that I wasn't able to meet because they weren't able to make it, I feel a real sense of loss. I already have such high opinions of them that the desire to know them as the REALLY are gnaws on me even now! I believe God ordained the 'smallness' of this retreat in part as a mercy to me, because I get overwhelmed with people easily, and as it was my mind was constantly reeling from exposure to the glory of some truly exceptional humans. This is a mercy I no longer desire. Not with Biblical Families. I believe I have been altered quite a bit in my outlook by this retreat. Thank you , God.
One of the things that we did near the beginning was answer the question "What do you want to get out of this weekend?", which I had a hard time answering honestly because the real desire of my heart was to be surprised, and have that be a good thing for once. I am happy to report that God met me with some true surprises that I honestly could not be prepared for. I thought I was going to meet with a group of people; but in fact I met with a collection of treasures that only kind of resemble people. The streets of the Kingdom have to be paved in gold to be worthy to bear the feet of such people.
From the moment I arrived I was just... swallowed... and engulfed by such kind and genuine people. Both my ability and my desire to isolate myself were stripped from me.
Oh! The worship! Thank you Jesus! I never get to take part in worship with other people that are worshiping. I've been so hungry for group worship and then suddenly it was everywhere around me. I have to start something where I live, because now that I've been exposed again, the idea of waiting for the next retreat for my next opportunity is maddening to me!
@Mojo it was wonderful to meet you in person. I feel like I have to go back and re-read all our interactions and read them in your voice now that I have a clearer picture of who you are. I have such respect for your walk and your ministry and I will be praying for your new ministry opportunity to be nothing short of a God-ordained movement in your city. Your wife reminds me so much of my own it's uncanny, I would love for them to meet at a retreat someday.
@andrew my admiration for you has only grown this weekend, which I may have already admitted in an unguarded moment, but wanted to repeat here. The only really unpleasant surprise of the weekend was how little time there was for us to get together one on one! I've set my mind to remedying that...
@nathan Thank you so much for everything you did for me this weekend. My normal way is to to be a mostly non-participant but you gave me no opportunity. You warmed me up even while I cruelly let you freeze. I owe you a fur-lined jacket, and a lot more besides!
@RonHiggins I know you won't read this, but you are a failure of a human being. Your brand of hospitality is a violation of the Geneva Convention.
@Poodles Just in case you read that, I didn't mean it. Thank you so much for the welcome you extended to me.
@Jan Louie Higgins I MEANT IT AND IT APPLIES TO YOU TOO. You really made me feel like I was at home even though I was a stranger. I cannot thank you enough.
@Ginny Hah! You're as amazing in person as you are on the forums! I don't even know if that counts as a surprise so much as a confirmation...
@julieb Oh look, yet another person who won't just let a man wander around being awkward! I'm glad to be able to put a face to all the kind words and wisdom that my wife has benefited from!
@Joleneakamama I had to save you for last. I need to try to express just how much you and your family mean to me. Your sons were nothing short of awe-inspiring to me. For a couple of quiet young men, they are filled to overflowing with wisdom and humor and talent and conviction. I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to meet someone like your husband. I liked him instantly and spent the whole weekend having my respect for him deepen with every conversation. I am so glad to have met you in person. This medium of an internet forum just cannot contain how amazing you are. You are a wellspring of resources and wisdom and a real pleasure to speak with. This weekend was filled with so many awesome encounters for me that I can't quantify them all, but nothing touched me as deeply as your boys playing the flutes and you accompanying them on the accordion performing Edelweiss/The Sound of Music. It's not much of an exaggeration to say you and your sons did for me with your instruments what David did for Saul with his lyre. Thank you so, so much. The idea that your family has neighbors that don't appreciate living so close to you offends me to my core. May God bless your family with people that appreciate you and value you for who you are.
I had many more encounters with people that don't seem to have a profile, but I'm going to leave those unsaid because I feel like I've already gushed enough. I'm going to have to leave it at: there's just so much that goes on at a retreat that the whole is so much more than the sum of it's parts. There's just no way to have a high enough opinion from the forum of people you meet online, that you won't have to reclassify them as much more worthy people after meeting them in person. And you'll be dealing with that while meeting people that are just as titanic that don't even appear on the forums.
I read here somewhere that that coming to a retreat is worth any expense, and I have to agree with that. When I think of the people that I wasn't able to meet because they weren't able to make it, I feel a real sense of loss. I already have such high opinions of them that the desire to know them as the REALLY are gnaws on me even now! I believe God ordained the 'smallness' of this retreat in part as a mercy to me, because I get overwhelmed with people easily, and as it was my mind was constantly reeling from exposure to the glory of some truly exceptional humans. This is a mercy I no longer desire. Not with Biblical Families. I believe I have been altered quite a bit in my outlook by this retreat. Thank you , God.
“now If you’ll buy that, I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona, from my front porch you can see the sea...” George Strait was just kidding guys.