Retreat!!!

Our church has put together a ladies retreat every other year for several years now, and I've attended the last three retreats.  They've been held at this amazing little retreat centre in Northern Washington, which is an amazing setting to truely marvel at God's creation, either rain or shine.  The group of ladies changes each retreat, and I love being able to get to know ladies I don't chat with every Sunday.  Its a small weekend away, but an amazing refresher from the everyday life. 

The focus of the retreat was loving well, as seen in 1 John 4:7-21.  So often I try to fulfill my desire to be loved from others, but the retreat brought be back to the truth: that God IS love and he is all I need to be loved.  It is too easy to just look to the physical world for our desires, as it is in front of our faces, but the physical realm always lets us down.  If I allow God to fulfill my hearts desire for love, and drawing on his love and strength, I can love others in my life.  Those that are easy to love; those that are a challenge to love; those I do not love (I have a hard time using the word hate, as we are called not to hate); and those that are not a part of my life, the strangers I am called to love.

Jesus said in John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." This is a longing in my life, and I trust that God will continue to do a good work in me.