Welcome to my weekend get away!
I have felt God impressing upon my heart for some time now that I needed to have a personal retreat.
I will confess to you that my quiet times have not been what they should be and I knew that I needed to get alone with God and find out what He would have for me.
For all you moms of nursing babies, you know what a struggle those early mornings can be after being up several times to feed a hungry baby! This, along with Amanda having trouble staying in her own bed at night, seemed to give me a valid excuse for not rising early enough to get my time alone with the Lord.
I would try to snatch little moments throughout the day with the Lord, and was successful to some degree, but 10 minutes doesn't go very far when I think of all that God has called me to do as a wife and a mother!
So, all that being said, my husband was gracious enough to give me a full 24 hours away from the business of life to get alone with the Lord. What a blessing it was! Not only did I spend hours worshipping, seeking God, confessing, and listening to the Spirit, I got a good night's sleep as well! (Come to find out, Alyssa slept through the night while I was gone - that had to be God!)
God revealed many things to me during this time. He showed me areas of my life that I had failed my children, yet was faithful to show me how I could improve in those areas. He showed me ways to approach problem areas in my children's' hearts that I had previously been struggling with.
He also showed me that my quiet times are precious to Him and that if I would submit my tiredness to Him and be faithful to meet with Him, that He would bless this area of my life. That doesn't mean that the kids will always sleep through the night or that it would always be easy to jump right out of bed every morning, it simply means that He will be faithful to meet me every morning and that His grace will always be sufficient to get me through the day.
I really struggled with this. Not only was God prompting me to wake up before the kids, I knew that He wanted me to wake up even before my husband. Proverbs 31 says that the virtuous woman rises while it is still dark to get food for her household. Note that this does not just say for her children. The household definitely includes the husband!
So last night, in obedience to my Lord, I set my alarm to go off at 5:00 a.m. This morning, Alyssa woke up at 4:49 to be fed. The first time all night. God is so faithful!
Into his court she humbly came
fearful in knowing this could be her last hour.
For when she called out his name
her very life would be in his power.
Honor and admiration filled her heart.
This was the one who could bring her life!
This king had loved her from the start
and had proudly called her his wife.
Slowly she approached his throne in awe.
Trembling in fear her heart began to race.
Thirty days had passed since her name he did call.
Would he welcome her or from her turn his face?
As she humbly stepped into the inner court
the love and joy on his face he did not hide.
She had found favor with the one she adored!
The rod was lifted and she was welcome to be at his side!
Into Your courts I humbly come,
resting in the peace that You have given.
I call out Your name and to You I run
for to You my heart has been driven.
Honor and admiration fills my heart.
You have given me the gift of life!
You, my King, loved me from the start
and have accepted me, a mortal, as your wife!
I approach the throne of grace in awe.
The joy I find in You causes my heart to race.
For day by day my name You will call
and from me You will never turn Your face.
As I step into Your inner court,
the quiet place where only You and I abide,
I find favor with the One I Adore
and I am gladly drawn to Your side!
Like Queen Esther of long ago, I desire the presence of a powerful King. The difference is that I can approach my King with confidence, knowing that He will always be waiting with open arms.
The Bible says that Esther hadn't been called into the king's presence for 30 days! What a privilege to not only be called into God's presence daily, but I have the joy of continual communion with Him throughout the day!
5 comments:
Sounds like your retreat was wonderful and God spoke to you in a powerful way! If anyone deserves a personal retreat, it's you, lady! God bless.
I'm so glad to hear that things went so well. I wanted to ask you more about it on Sunday, but...well, we were both a little busy. ;)
How wonderful to get away. Your husband is to be highly commended! I don't have breastfeeding babies at this time, but I remember God speaking something similar to me when I had insomnia. I was waking up around 3 am every night and not falling to sleep again until 5 am. I felt God called me to have a quiet time early and so I decided to just stay awake if I was already awake at 5am. I was amazed at how God provided the energy I needed to get through the day. In fact, I have seen a huge decrease in my insomnia since I began waking early. I pray your times will be rich, and much grace will be multiplied to you throughout your day.
So glad to hear about that your 24 hours were so well spent (or invested). I do believe God's got a theme here for women, and we of Chesapeake can certainly stand together in supporting one another in rising earlier than our flesh wants, in order to have sweet, deep, unhurried, uninterrupted (ideally) time with the Lord. Hey, um... let the words "personal retreat" get around to my husband, will ya? I was going to say 'for me" but it's really he who needs it more, for refreshment and reinvisioning.
Wow. It's really amazing to see how the Lord met you. I'm so happy that you were able to take that small retreat. Isn't God so faithful?
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