Blossom and Grow

People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel's fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. (Hosea 14:7 NIV)

I have just returned from serving on another Via de Cristo weekend. Via de Cristo (Way of Christ) is a very structured retreat used for spiritual renewal and the formation of Christian leaders. I love serving on these retreats and watching people grow in faith right before my eyes. It is like watching time-lapse photography of a flower blooming. The people attending the weekend (pilgrims) are usually the ones blossoming, but this weekend I watched as another team member blossomed, and grew.

There is a lot of prayer that goes on behind the scenes (as well as in full view) on these weekends and I had the happy privilege of being in charge of the behind the scenes praying. It was part of my duties to match up prayer partners. Nearly every time I went to releive a pair from praying duty, I would open the door to smiles and hugs and thanks for matching them with "just the right prayer parter."

One woman had been nervous about serving since the team first met two months ago. She kept telling the people she was working with that she didn't know what she was doing and didn't understand the duties. They would try to reassure her that they would walk her through everything since this was her first time working on a weekend and they kept telling her to trust them, but she continued to be confused and apprehensive. She was particularly worried about her prayer time and didn't want to pray out loud. She was nervous about how it wwas supposed to be done and who she would be praying with.

During her prayer time she was paired with someone very experienced in these weekends. It was a match quite literally made in heaven. When I opened the door after their prayer time, the prayer chapel seemed to glow. They had both experienced similar loss in their lives and were able to minister to one another during that time as they prayed for the pilgrims, the team and one another. She was also blessed to have some very loving and patient folks in her area of service who led her by the hand even though they had a lot of work to do. The rest of this weekend this woman smiled, smiled, smiled! She no longer worried about what was yet to come and trusted others to let her know what she needed to do and when she needed to do it.

What a joy to watch God at work! What a joy to see him working in less expected places on this weekend! What a joy to know God was working through me as I prayed when I placed prayer partners together.

You never know how God is going to work in your life... but most of the time it is after we say "yes" to something he has offered... "Yes" to attending a reatreat... "Yes" to giving of your time, talent and treasure to serve others... "Yes" to a new opportunity or experience. Say "yes" to God in some way today and watch as you yourself begin to blossom and grow in unexpected and beautiful ways.

Father,

Thank you for another incredible weekend on the mountaintop. Bless our pilgrims as they go back to their "regular" lives with new insight and understanding. Amen.

Joys: A wonderful weeked with wonderful people; sleeping in my own bed last night; three days of work before vacation!