Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sunrise on the Beach

God plants dreams in our hearts and allows them to be tested, purified, and then brought to fruition. Our job is to not give up on them.

This is the wonderful reminder that God spoke to me through a lovely guest speaker at the women’s retreat I attended over the weekend. Apparently, other women in the room were also encouraged by this word, but I felt I was the only one in the room.
God’s love for us is so sweet. He reveals His love in such simple but powerful moments through our lives.

Another one of these moments was while my dear friend, Jenny, and I were watching the sunrise on the beach. We were the only two to wake up early enough Friday morning to expecting to catch the sun peek over the horizon. However, there were so many clouds in the sky, we didn’t see the sun rise up. Instead it poured through a tiny opening, downward, over the ocean. I call displays of the sun “God Rays”…rays of light streaming from above all over us. What a beautiful reminder that God desires to reach out and touch us right where we are! If only we would be more receptive to these moments…and to God’s love.


The retreat was awesome. A chance to get away with the girls and relax….in a 7000 square foot beach mansion! The house had its own private dock, a movie theater room, an indoor/outdoor pool and several rooms equipped with private baths and Jacuzzi tubs. We were spoiled!
The best part was the fellowship as we cooked, laughed, ate and talked until 2:00am. I am so blessed to have a church full of women who actually love each other!

And to remember it all, I have beautiful photos…but also a single seashell given to me by Joan, our guest speaker. Joan is from Hawaii and explained to all of us that there it is custom to take away something physical as a reminder of the special moments in life. So she brought us a basket of seashells from which we could pick our own unique one. Mine will always serve as a reminder of those dreams God will lead me to fulfill…and of the wonderful women who encourage me along the way!

1 comments:

Sharon said... Reply to Comment

Love the picture! Glad you had a good time and mostly that God was at work.