In spite of the pressure and stress (which I admit can be somewhat self-inflicted because I am such an overachiever and perfectionist), I had a great time being the Retreat Geek this past weekend. It was fun setting up the mics and amps and preparing and running all the Powerpoints and videos for our worship times and the speakers.
But it did give me a new perspective and a new appreciation for the folks who do this week after week after week after week.
Many churches today project the words of songs, Bible verses, sermon outlines, etc. onto a screen throughout the service. This requires someone to sit in a booth somewhere pushing buttons to make it all advance at the proper time.
Which means that while your eyes are closed and you are having an intimate encounter with God, theirs are wide open as they busily click and scroll and adjust. Which precludes them from having their own worship experience. And while their service is a form of worship, it is a different experience. Same thing with the musicians, the Worship Pastor, and the Preacher.
That doesn't even take into account the extra time they already were up there in preparation/practice/set-up. Similar to how I was setting up and participating in rehearsals while the other retreat ladies were having their free time. I'm not bemoaning my choice, but it was a definite eye-opener.
Of course, I'm quite sure none of you has ever gotten irritated because a slide had a misspelled word or was out of order or came up too slow, nor would you ever fail to express appreciation to these techies, right? Didn't think so!
But just in case, next time you are at church, let them know you notice what they do and thank them for their service to God and His people.
I'm so glad God is omnipresent, because I would hate to have to apologize to all of you for His absence with you this weekend, because HE WAS AT OUR RETREAT.
To begin with, I have never been part of a retreat that has been bathed in prayer like this one was. How many times do we pray "Lord, bless our plans and our retreat?" The 3 ladies who co-chaired this retreat were burdened at the beginning that this be HIS retreat. In fact, the Children's Minister, who also oversees the Ladies Ministry, confessed to the church this morning that she was beginning to be a little worried as she went to the meetings for the 10 weeks prior to the retreat: "They spent hours praying, and I began to think they needed to quit praying and start planning! I learned that I need to spend less time planning and more time praying. "
Obviously, many plans were indeed made. But that was done by each of us in our own areas of responsibility, and when we came together it was for prayer, with just a bit of logistical discussion after we prayed.
I remember one particularly sweet meeting about 3 weeks ago. We had the list of all who were registered, and we went down the list name by name and prayed for each lady individually and specifically. I will admit when they said we were going to do this, I somewhat panicked because there were 60 names on the list. And it did take us a while. But what a precious time it was. And I know it did not return void. For at least two people, you'll see evidence just a moment.
We were relatively primitive this weekend. Scheduling logistics resulted in our staying in a bunkhouse instead of in cabins. We were 70 women in 3 connected rooms with 2 bathrooms! But when you are stripped down to the basics without the fluff, you realize what truly matters. Someone commented that they would sleep on a dirt floor to have the encounter with God this weekend produced.
I just have to share one goosebumps moment. At the end of the Saturday morning session, we had what was called a Divine Connection. One of the organizers stood at the front of the group with a basket containing everyone's name on slips of paper. She was going to pull them out in pairs, and those two individuals were to go for a walk or find a quiet place to visit and share. This had been much prayed over like everything else, that God would orchestrate exactly the pairs that needed to be matched up. I don't even know all of the stories of the conversations that folks had. Mine was definitely a sweet blessing and divine appointment.
But here's what our amazing God did: well into the process of "randomly" pairing up these 70 names, 2 names were matched up: the name of a wonderful lady in our church who is a licensed marriage counselor, and the name of a precious young mother who is experiencing tremendous marriage pain. Tell me how that could happen if not for God! I almost fell out of my chair. Just a few of us even knew about the situation. What a mighty God we serve!
That reminded me that God loves us so much that He ministers to each of us at our point of need, and it brought to mind this song that I love. I know it's not Saturday, but it's a great encouragement to begin the week!
I'm in my "fabulous fifties" and my husband and I have been married 25 years. We have a son and a daughter who are both in college. so we are reluctantly entering the empty-nest years. I was an RN in my former (pre-kids) life which comes in handy as I serve in our church's care ministry.
Chatting over a cup of coffee with a friend to encourage and support one another (and share a laugh or even a tear) is one of my favorite things to do.
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