This past weekend my dh and I and children went to a gospel music ‘retreat’ that my sil treated us to.  I don’t know what I expected…I guess I thought we were just going on a vacation. 

Well, we went 1 hr. into the mountains of NY to a Presbyterian Camp.  It had rustic lodging but we stayed in a lodge that had private bathrooms just like a hotel room.  There was a double bed and a single bed and the staff had rolled an extra cot into our room (nice size room) and we had brought the portable crib for the baby.  So each child had their own ‘bed’ and my and dh had the double bed…

This place gave us dinner on Friday eve, 3 meals on Sat. and 2 meals on Sunday…I was in heaven with that…it’s been so long since I have not had to cook regularly.  A portion of this camp had been rented out by some friends of my sil so it was about a crowd of 30-35 people that did everything together. They had activities planned for us and late night and early morning we had singing/devotion service…just singing to the Lord in song and sharing what was on our hearts with one another.

On Sat. morning we made homemade bread.  I made 2 batches b/c after I made one I realized what an ‘educational’ experience that would be for my dd6 so I helped her make one also(and that was logged as school that day).

After we made the bread and let it rise we went to a puppet show.  How wonderful that was for the children.  There were only 4 children out of the whole lot of us and mine were the oldest.  The puppet show was put on my the puppet ministry of a church.  The puppets ministered about salvation and how all have sinned and how Jesus came to save us.  Then after the show my children were so intrigued they went behind the little ’stage’ they had set up and these nice people let my children play with the puppets for as long as they wanted(I had to tell them it was time to go after about 30min).  They showed my dc how to work the puppets and how to do the ‘voice’ and move the mouth at the same time..how to move the hands with the rods that were attached to them.(educational?  I think so)  The puppet staff then shared about how some of the puppets are handmade and then some they bought on ebay. 

But what blessed me was the rain.  Yes it rained the ENTIRE weekend and it was cold(to me), kind of miserable.  We went to a gospel concert at the affiliate church on Sat. night and the presence of the Lord came down in that place like a heavy rain.  I felt like I had gone thru a carwash when I got home b/c my spirit was so refreshed and clean and clear and had been ’soaked’ and saturated with the presence of Almighty God. 

Like I said before I don’t know what I expected but I did not expect that(don’t ask me why)  I think b/c I had gotten so caught up in the busyness of house, teaching children, dh, etc. that I just did not think it would be a time of refreshing for me.

In Sunday morning service the Lord spoke to my heart concerning the physical rain that I had grumbled about earlier that morning.  He told me that the natural rain was a prophetic symbol of what He was doing while we spent that time with Him at the camp.  So for me not be dismayed at the ‘inconvenience’ of the wet cold natural rain….it was needful.  The grass and trees, the earth need the water from the rain…just as our spirits need the rain of the Holy Spirit to pour (not just shower) but to fall heavy(like it was doing outside) on our spirits to wash away the discouragement and the debris left from everyday life.  To give us a new fresh, new, clean start; To cleanse and heal battle scars;  To invigorate and nourish our spirits with the life-giving moisture that we can only find in God.

Oh how my heart received that word…how my heart received the fresh living water from LIFE Himself…and just like u begin to see the leaves bud a little more, they begin to open up and the flowers after the rain lift their head to the sky from where the rain came from and open up to it so my heart just opened up to God.  All I could do was just worship Him after that and let the water flow from my eyes as I realized the Providence, the goodness, the mercy and lovingkindness of God in moving on my sil to pay for our whole family to go and experience this precious, holy time with the lover of my soul….in appointing us THIS time with Him.  He knew I need to be revived and refreshed.

I will never look a rain the same again.  I appreciate the natural rain and the needs it provides and I so appreciate the spiritual rain that washes over my dry places and give them life…

…from now on I say ”let it Rain let it Rain!!!” 

Praise You Lord Jesus!  I give You Glory and Honor and Praise for all that You are and for all that You do. I worship You with everything within me.  I am Yours.  I belong to You.  I serve You and will forever love You!!

love,

deidra

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.