Oh, what a time we had!

As promised, here are some pictures and a small recap of the prayer retreat I attended in August.

We had a wonderful time and God really dealt with me on some things.



We came equipped with blessed oil...




We sang praises to God by the lake...



We enjoyed the beautiful scenery...




We enjoyed the fellowship...

...and of course, we enjoyed the food...oh, I mean the prayer;)

Seriously, we prayed for about an hour, 3 times a day and I needed that time to seek God and "unload" some things I had on my mind. In the first 6am prayer session, I was explaining...(okay, I was complaining) about "the usual" (too much housework, lack of sleep, lack of money, and feelings of being overwhelmed with raising kids, and cultivating a good marriage).

"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved"(Psalm 55:22).

While I was praying, I had this thought: "Don't forget." I immediately knew what that meant. I knew it was God reminding me not to forget where he brought me from. I started to remember what my life was like pre-salvation. I thought about how lonely I was then, how confused about life, how I had no direction. I thought about the foolish, dead-end, ungodly relationships I was in, and the road I was headed down. I thought about how much God had changed my life, my mind, and my attitude through his word and his presence in my life. It kept coming to my mind, "Don't forget" you weren't always here." "Don't forget where you used to be."

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you"(John 14:26).

I thought about what a great, godly, hard working, supportive husband God has blessed me with. I thought about the two healthy, wonderful children we have. I was reminded of how far God has brought us financially, in a short time. Also, how he has ordered our steps to work together to make alot of great decisions and accomplishments for our family.

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jer. 33:3).

As you can imagine, my prayer soon turned from a complaining session, to a repentance session, to a praise session, and then a worship session! God is a GREAT God!

"I will bless the Lord at ALL times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth"(Psalm 34:1).

This is just one example of many ways God met me at the prayer retreat. I will make sure to share some more with you in future post.

"And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers...to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not...then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage"(Deuteronomy 6:10,12).