Reflections from My Retreat

Happy Wednesday! Like I mentioned here, I went on a short weekend retreat with my church this past weekend. Overall, there were four services, two additional devotional times, and we also had a prayer walk. The theme of the weekend was Identity. Upon hearing the theme, I knew that I would love it and that it would speak to me.

The whole point of the entire event was finding your identity in Christ. I really enjoyed the services and devotional times. The worship part of the service was my favorite-which isn't surprising because worship is my preferred means of communicating with God and experiencing His presence. 

The first service was centered around the fact that most if not all of us as humans carry around baggage-whether that baggage is from what someone has said about us, to us, how someone has made us feel, or what we think about ourselves. It was also centered around the fact that most of us wear masks that don't show our true identity.

Another service was centered around the difference between salvation and sanctification. Our speaker used the analogy of a man in a car. On many of his drives, he noticed a Jesus, so he eventually decided to invite Him in. That is salvation. Sanctification would be when the man gave God the wheel to steer his life. 

The first devotional was about social media and all of "standards" that the world sets upon us. I was really surprised to discover that many women will take down a photo just because it didn't get enough "likes" on Instagram. 

The other was about the lies that we as women believe about ourselves. For instance, if I only had a smaller nose or a smaller body, THEN I will get the attention that I crave. I learned about how destructive and stupid it is to believe lies like these.

I really loved the theme and all of the services especially the prayer walk that we went on. It was comprised of poster boards scattered around the campground with Bible verses, inspirational quotes, and suggestions of what to pray about. 

I had such a great time and I experienced God's presence in awesome and mighty ways! I know this post is a little all over the place, but I just can't explain the entire weekend effectively. It was just that great. :)

What do you think?