What can I say? I am grateful and humbled. The Woman's Retreat was wonderful!Thank you for praying for me. I have never felt such a peace.
Usually when I am facing something that feels so overwhelming... so out of my comfort zone... I find myself saying I can't wait till it's over! But this time I couldn't wait to actually be up there and communicate the things that God had put on my heart.
For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I was one of the speakers at our Woman's Retreat, at the church that Randy and I have been attending for 30 years. Wow, it will actually be 30 years on Valentine's Day! We started attending Open Door Fellowship, the week we got engaged.
The theme of the retreat was My life... the Big Picture along with the verse- Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The beautiful necklace was a thank you gift from Chris, who coordinated the retreat. Oh my gosh, what a thoughtful, memorable gift! Thank you Chris! I love it!
So, I have spent the past couple months going over my life story. I'm telling you, if you have never written out your life story, you must. You will see how the Lord has had His handprints all throughout your story. He is not only writing your story, but He is using all of it for His glory.
I titled my talk Embrace the story He is writing. It's uniquely yours. I'll be honest, there are parts of my story that I would just as well forget... but when I was finally able to see that He really and truly works all things for good, I began to embrace all of it. It makes me sad to look back now and see that I was so unwilling to trust Him in certain chapters of my life story, that I can now see as blessings. But we learn from those times and move on.
And you know what? God is not done with me yet. He know the plans He has for me... for me & Randy. And I am so excited about what's next! Randy & I are dreaming of this next chapter in our life story. And it's so freeing to know that I can trust Him for my future. I'll keep you posted as it unfolds.
Sounds awesome I wish I could have been there to here you speak.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to be able to download the messages from the ODF site. I just heard bits and pieces of all the talks so I'm looking forward to hearing the full versions.
ReplyDeleteDid you ask Chris if she made or bought the necklaces?
hi linda, i'm in a major crossroads in my life right now, praying for what the next chpt is. i can say i don't like waiting! (if you'd pray for me). also, like your new design! :) ric-rac is YOU, girl :)
ReplyDeleteLoved your message about Jeremiah 29:11. I hope you don't mind that I copied some of your blog to put on my mirror to remind me daily that God knows what He's doing in my life!
ReplyDeleteLoved your message...hope you don't mind that I copied some of it down to put on my mirror at home to remind me that God knows what He's doing in my life!
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