On April 15 and 16, Oasis Christian Community hosted a retreat focusing on biblical living–specifically biblical manhood and womanhood. Over the course of the next week or two, the messages from the weekend will be uploaded to the church website. 
Check them out, won’t you?
You’ll find links to the audio, PowerPoints, and videos on the left side of the page. Please let me know if they are not there and I will do my best to redirect you to the new location if/when it changes.
This was a rough week. Firstly, The Hunk was in Chicago from Monday through Thursday. (Please note: I blogged about him while he was gone; I missed him so!)
While he was gone, I finished putting together three messages for the retreat we left for on Friday evening. I was flat on my butt every night for three nights after work. And it was so worth it. It was great to see God speak to the women at the retreat–to see God really teach them and to hear His words, spoken through me, bounce back in their regular conversations. How cool!
In the midst of all that, I didn’t get to do a lot of photo-taking. However, while at the retreat, I sat on a cool retro couch. Other snapshots could be considered for the soft category: the fire in the fireplace, the rain. However, the couch was soft and provided for a mid-afternoon nap for me. I took advantage of the retro pattern and edited the photo using some unusual (for me) techniques. Here is the before and the after.
Before
After
Softly,
God has spoken to me through so many books. Any woman who is seeking to live in a Godly manner should delve into Christian books like mad. Here’s a list of books that have helped me:
There are probably more. But these are obviously most memorable.
Happy reading,
So, there I was: flat on my back. And there I stayed for two straight days.
My brand new husband was an excellent and caring nurse.
I’m little. Like a buck ten. I should’ve said no, but I was confident that I could do it:
We’d just moved me to our first digs. His dresser needed to be moved from the second floor to the basement to make room for our bedroom furniture set that we’d purchased with our wedding money. So, carefully, we moved the dresser–made of solid wood–down one flight of steps and then another. At the end, I was exhausted but thought very little of it.
Until the next day.
Pain. Indescribable pain. Anyone who has had back pain understands. It’s a pain like no other and a pain that impacts the rest of the body.
I was down for the count. And no matter how many OTC pain killers SweetLove brought me, the pain would not let up and, being new to the area, I had no doctor to visit and no insurance yet. I waited it out. Not fun. At. All.
We all have similar pains in our lives. They are deep pains that influence our every move–every decision, every word, every relationship.
We try to mask these pains or numb them. We numb them with drugs, alcohol, and sex. We try to mask these pains with over-achievement, a happy face, and impressive possessions.
But there’s no numbness stronger than sin’s pain. But there is a cure.
It reminds me of a woman we read about in Matthew 9.
Jesus was walking with his disciples–and I’m sure there were plenty of other creepers following along. There was a crowd, in fact, surrounding them. Right in the middle of the craziness of a crowd, we are introduced to a woman who is very sick. So sick, in fact, that she had suffered for twelve years with a discharge of blood.
Imagine!
We don’t have to. If we’re older than 12, we’ve suffered the consequences of sin for just as long as she had suffered with this illness.
Maybe we’ve suffered for the sin of others: abuse–whether emotionally, sexually, or physically. Or, maybe we live in regret for our own actions. Either way, we’re in serious need of healing. The pain of guilt can be as intense to our daily walk as back pain would be to our physical walk.
But there’s good news. Jesus.
The woman sick with the issue of blood knew what she had to do; all the money she had couldn’t cure her and all the perfectionism or drugs or alcohol wouldn’t stop the fatigue and pain she was experiencing.
She knew Jesus was the answer and she was desperate to try anything. She’d have stood on her head and eaten a banana if it’d cure her. So, she touched Jesus’ garment hem. As Jesus spoke to her, she was made well. (Matthew 9.20-22)
A perfect healing.
What if we went to Jesus with our pains instead of turning to temporary numbings which surround us?
I’m willing to bet that some of us think our pains are not why Christ came, died, and rose again. We’ve been tricked into thinking that Christ came for those who can make themselves behave perfectly.
Lies.
Matthew 9.12 quotes Jesus: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”
Why would Jesus have become that ultimate sacrifice if we were able to attain perfection or to cure our own pains out of our own self-will? Simple: We can’t.
Whatever the pain–whatever the sin–Christ can heal it. Time won’t heal us (although, time will tell how badly the pain isn’t healed). Achievement won’t heal us. Drugs won’t make the events go away.
But Jesus will.
Truth.
“What can take away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus…”
