Joy!

I have been looking forward to this blog post! As I have been unpacking the wild and crazy ride from my retreat Matters of The Heart with my posts,  I needed to bookend the beginning and ending. Why?  Because this retreat opened up a realm of the spiritual that was fraught with evil but it did not stay in that realm.  The adversary lost!




We live in a spiritual world.  Many do not want to admit they buy into one, but they are drawn into it whether or not they believe it. The current movie genres of the supernatural world, the dark evil world, the new TV shows covering the same,  horoscopes, superstitions, tarot cards and religions are all because man has a spiritual 'hole' that must be filled some way.  People who never pray, tend to do so when in crisis's.  Or, they turn to someone who they think has a 'god' connection to pray for them. Why?  Because we know deep down that there has to be something greater than ourselves.  You may not believe in God or Jesus but one day you will. It is all real folks!

I love bringing people along with me on adventures!!!  Those who know me well, know that adventures find me, always!  I love it more when my adventures draw me into a greater awareness of God, His creation, His character and His love for us. That was the prayer for over a year regarding this retreat.

I am delighted to share that God made Himself known on day one of our retreat!!  It was our first evening in the beautiful dinning room, with our first introduction to those who would be serving us all week long.  I knew my ladies by name and I was learning to know them by face.  Dinner was ending and my attention was drawn to a group of my ladies praying over a staff person.  Wow, that is not a normal scene, especially when we had just met each other.  I knew our purpose was spiritual but this was unique.  I was captivated! We all were!

Joseph was the waiter for one of our tables.  As he introduced himself to his new guests for the week, he did not seem well and very sad.  Owning this information is not protocol for the staff! They are to be up, happy and ready to serve the guests!  They work 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week.  Pretend to be happy and carefree, they must.  They are hired to serve! When you keep those details in mind this next account is even more a God movement.   Millie (one of the most delightful and encouraging ladies I have yet to meet) asks Joseph, their waiter if he is okay.

Meet Millie!

Here is Millie's account: "Okay, we were all dining, Ruth, Susan, Suzette and myself, our server Joseph introduced himself, I notice that that he was sad, I asked him, "are you okay?".  He said no!  He shared that he  suffers from high blood pressure and at the moment he had a terrible headache,  "Would you like me to pray for you?"  I offered without hesitation.  He agreed to let me pray! I told him "my Jesus can heal anything". The Holy Spirit quickened me to ask the next question,  "Joseph would you like to know this God that we serve?"    He quickly said "yes". I led him in the prayer, right there. He kneeled down on one knee and accepted Jesus as the one to forgive his sins and give him life eternal.  Hallelujah, he was so happy!! Joy filled him! His headache never came back  and from that day on he couldn't stop smiling. Whenever we saw him he would say no more headache and smiled." 

Another layer of this story was also unfolding.  Remember we are on day one.  Each of us are wearing name badges.  Rebecca is riding in the elevator and a staff person asked her why she was wearing this name tag/badge. She shared that there were about 60 ladies on  retreat cruise to learn more about Jesus.  His face lit up!  He shared that on Thursday evening at 11:45 p.m. those on the ship that were Christ followers met to have their worship time.  He gave her his information and invited us to join them for prayer and encouragement.  When I heard this I was humbled and tears welled up.  The sacrifice to worship and to pray, trumped rest and sleep.  How many of us would worship at 11:45 p.m. because it was the only time available?  How many of us have what I call 'convenient church'?  

Meet Rebecca on the right.  Dee Brestin on the left.

Drum roll!!!   A day or two later Rebecca gave to Joseph the information of the man leading the worship each week on the ship.  She encouraged him to find this group and begin to grow in his relationship with the living God.  Drum roll!!!  This man was Joseph boss!  Joseph's  boss would be available everyday to encourage and teach Joseph spiritual truths.  Accident?  No way.  A divine appointmet on all accounts.     I share this quote with you to ponder. 

"Coincidences are spiritual puns." — G. K. Chesterton