jammin'

so i'm just sitting here, listening to some blasting tunes... ask chris bannon what they are... he'll know. but i won't do my shameless plug here. oh no, i won't.

anyways, this past weekend was beautiful.

we went up to new hampshire to spend some time decompressing, getting closer as a team and community, and reflecting on the ways God has worked this summer and continues to work in us and each other.

we all woke up at 7am-ish on saturday when we were there to go kayaking. it was awesome to bask in the morning sunlight, and bathe in the presence of God that morning. we all came back together at about 11 to start our reflection time.

we went over the section in mark, where Jesus is healing the sick and casting out demons in capernaum. we talked about a lot about calling, and about compassion fatigue. and all sorts of other things. find the passage and read it. draw your own conclusions, we probably talked about them and prayed through them.

Jesus at the end of the section retreats to a quiet place, then when his disciples found him, decides to keep on moving to another town. they could have built a megachurch, but Jesus had prayed, and knew it was best to keep moving. so they did.

we then began a four hour time of silent retreat and solitude. we were even told by Jim to ignore people we came in contact with. it wasn't rude, we were just focusing on God. nice :). So i started the time off with a 45 minute nap. i know... i know. but really, i started it off just by taking everything i had on my mind and heart, and giving it to God, completely. and it was so freeing that i fell asleep. once i was empty of everything, God could fill me up much easier.

and he did.

on sunday we wrote down things to encourage and challenge the the people we are living in community with. through that process, God convicted me in a lot of ways that i need to improve relationally with people, and although i welcome with open arms at first, to be intentional at maintaining that welcoming spirit towards people i already know. this among other things is something i'll continue to work on.

thank you all who are praying for me, our team, our community, and hartford. God is here. keep praying. :)