This women’s retreat was such an edifying experience for me. I’d kind of gone into it with no expectations other than to to receive or give whatever it was God had for me. the first question of the night we were to pair up with a partner and share with them what we were wrestling with. I asked the speaker how long we had because when women get talking we can really get talking and I need to know how much time we had.

She said how about 7ish minutes. So I listened to the woman who was sitting beside me and she was wrestling with things she’s been wrestling with for years. We have a history and know each other’s more private struggles. I spoke to this woman who knows my past and I believe her response was a word from God to me. I felt wowed and at peace.

God really does speak to us through his people. As I listened to the speaker I had the thought that the place we struggle(d) most with feeling so unappreciated is the same exact thing where we are most exceptionally gifted. God does this for two reasons 1) to humble us, and 2) to free us. To free us to love wildly without expectation. Because the joy came not in what others saw in or from us, but because Christ was shown there.