COV LIFE BLOG
2014 CLC Women’s Retreat – Recap
The 2014 CLC Women’s Retreat was a true blessing for my heart, mind and soul. The speaker this year was Jackie Kendall, a God-fearing, high-spirited and humorous woman of the Lord. Jackie led us passionately through three main sessions, addressing the act of supplementing our faith, and the act of biblical, Christ-imitating forgiveness. While there were many personal takeaways for me, I thought I would share a few specific ways the retreat served as a time of encouragement, challenge and worship.
First of all, I was so encouraged by the retreat. It was so uplifting to witness a woman that is passionate about the word of God, will of God and worship of God. Jackie is a woman who is vividly aware of her purpose here on earth: to let God have His way in all that she does. Her love of God was evident and contagious, and encouraged me to set my affection fully and passionately on the only thing that truly matters: our all-worthy and all-sufficient God.
Second, I was challenged by the retreat. I faced this question: Do I diligently seek Jesus, or am I diligently distracted? Prior to attending the first session, I went to dinner at Chick-fil-A. By the time I finished eating, I still had about 30 minutes to kill before making my way to the retreat. And yet, even when presented with ample time, I decided (quite consciously) to forsake my daily Bible reading plan and look at Pinterest instead. I’d say that my heart was diligently distracted. And I find that is the case on many occasions. So, when Jackie posed this question, I was challenged to honestly consider my diligence in reading God’s precious word. After all, His word is more valuable than Pinterest will ever be!
Lastly, I was led to worship God as a result. For the second session, Jackie spoke on the issue of forgiveness. She reminded us that as God has forgiven us, we called to forgive others. No excuses. As she recounted to us how the Lord enabled her to forgive someone close to her in light of the most painfully damaging circumstances, I was reminded of God’s work of forgiveness in my own heart toward someone close to me. The capacity to forgive this person was one of the first evidences of God’s grace in my life, upon becoming a Christian and receiving God’s Spirit. I couldn’t help but worship God for the work He did in my heart—the work that only He could do, because my heart would have remained cold and bitter beyond healing, if not for His grace.
I know that this year’s Women’s Retreat was encouraging, challenging and worshipful in so many different ways to the women who attended. Whatever was spoken to our hearts individually from this past weekend, I pray that the Lord would allow His word to penetrate our lives in a way to obediently apply the truths proclaimed in tangible, Christ-honoring ways.
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