Up the hill

4:15 p.m. Today's project was to attend the sessions of our ladies' retreat in Twin Peaks in the San Bernardino Mountains. I caravaned up behind my friends De Anna and Linda.  The trip from Moreno Valley through Reche Canyon and then through the entire length of the city of San Bernardino was a bit tortuous, but once we started up the mountain, a feeling of peace and enjoyment came over me! Happily, we made it to the Calvary Chapel Conference Center by 4 p.m. as planned.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of living 5-6 to a room, whether for a retreat or our Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas each summer! Along with slight inconveniences, there's a tendency for me to think of the many things I'm not getting done at home or in my business. As for the aspect of "getting away," while it sounds good, my business is the perfect mix of fun and hard challenges, and I'm loath to even stop working during any part of my day!

So I come to retreat because God has directed me to, and to see what He has in store for me personally, and in ministry to others. Obedience is the key to a flourishing Christian walk, I'm convinced.

My daughter Heidi and I had breakfast together, enjoyed the teachings, and then took a talk-walk during  afternoon free time. Our conversation was wide-ranging, but centered on our respective Bible teaching ministries.Wonderfully, both of us are teaching Bible studies this summer! She will be teaching the book of Ephesians to her small group of young women, and I will be teaching this summer again, taking up the life lessons of believers presented in II Samuel. This weekend I have been inviting ladies who are home during the day to join us on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. Since we both have learned and have been led of the Spirit to teach the Bible verse by verse, as the Calvary Chapels are known for, we have exciting and challenging weeks ahead! But we both must honor God's way of teaching His word, Isaiah 28:13a:

Precept upon precept, precept 
  upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.  

We were asked to write a concern on the front of a card, and then on the back who God is to be to you (a powerful ministry tool I'd first experienced at the Ruth Graham Bell event at Sandals last month). Later during the quiet reflection time of communion, Heidi and I shared our cards which were on the same topic--to fulfill our teaching ministry!

But it was not until almost the end of the night that I found the reason for my attendance: to help comfort a sobbing young woman of our acquaintance. Two of us laid hands on her and silently prayed while her good friend held her. Ministry comes in many ways. The Apostle Paul says of the privilege of sharing Christ and ministering to others, II Corinthians 2:14, 16b:

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place...And who is sufficient for  these things? 

Who? Only the Holy Spirit working through us!