Well.
There really are no words. And, I hardly took any pictures. It was one of those weekends, you know? But, I have some things I want to share with you. I just want to sit on the front porch in a white rocking chair with you to the left or the right of me, and whisper a few truths into your ear. Would that be okay? Here we go:
Exercise Your Gifts
If you’re part of the body of Christ, you’ve got some spiritual gifts and they should not be overlooked or underutilized. You might not think the gifts you have add up to very much, but don’t be fooled. Do not be fooled. Your gift, combined with all the other gifts, make for some fabulous astoundingness. Seriously. Trust that the Giver of the gift will not let you fall on your face or be embarrassed or fall short of your own expectations. We need you to do your thing. We do.
More than a year ago, my friend Frances said she wanted to help out with this year’s retreat. I have no detail skills. I’m a big picture person. I told Frances she was in charge of decoration, but I had no vision or expectation of what she’d come up with. All I knew is that the budget was tight. And when I say tight, I mean it. And do you know what Frances told me? She said, “I actually like working on a tight budget! It’s more of a challenge!”
And so, from recycled materials, Frances transformed a stark, business-like conference room into a warm and inviting haven for nearly one hundred attendees at last weekend’s retreat. Exercise your gifts.
Let People Help You
The first time around, with JumpingTandem: The Retreat, I pretty much took on the whole thing by myself. People kept asking me, “How can I help?” or, “What can I do?” or, “Please tell me what I can do to help.” And, I kept saying, “I’ve got it. I think I’ve got it.” I did not have it. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But, I was too proud or scattered or embarrassed to just admit my need for help. Thankfully, at the last minute, Holley Gerth introduced me to Nasreen Fyneweaver, who stepped in and pulled together all the details and the retreat was a success. Whew!
Much of the reason I couldn’t ask for help back then is due to my simple inability to know how to get from point A to point B, or even to know which one is point A and which is point B. It’s all one scattered mess in my brain, except for the big picture part. Some of you totally get this and you’re nodding your head while you’re reading these words. The rest of you are breathing into a paper bag. I know. I’m sorry.
So, this year, many months in advance of the retreat, I put out a call for volunteers, and people responded! They had ideas and resources and connections and dreams and they offered them up without a second thought. I was blown away. For real. God may have given me the idea for this retreat, but he made it possible through others in the body of Christ who were just waiting for me to ask them for help.
Enjoy the Experience
We are better together. Everyone says it. We all know it. Most of us believe it. Or, at least we say we do. Teamwork is a beautiful thing. God will pull together just the right people at just the right time, if only we let him. There’s no need for one person to carry all the weight. Not in the body of Christ. We were made for each other. We are in this together. And, when we let the body be the body, it’s always God who gets the glory.
We Have Not Arrived
I almost wasn’t going to include this one, but I can’t seem to get away from here without sharing this one last thing.
No one is perfect. Some of us wear our messiness on our sleeves and others of us wear it covered up beneath our MAC foundation and our designer jeans. If you’ve got something going on and you need people to help, do not be choosy about the people God sends to you. When God sends people who have gifts and they can help you, let them help. Let them serve. Let them be part of the team. Let them share their story in front of a crowd. People will scratch their heads and wonder what you’re doing. But, God is redeeming all things. All things.
No one is perfect. Only Jesus. The people he called to serve with him while he walked and ministered on this earth were the people on the margins. Check the record and see for yourself. When God sends people to you and he says, “Her. I want her to be part of this,” go with it. Because this is God’s story, you know? He’s quite clear about the cast of characters.
I love you. You know this. This thing here, the thing you and the people did, all of us together, it was glory.
I’m so glad you listen to God. He did good.
“This is God’s story….” Indeed. Heading into women’s retreat next weekend myself and doing my first (!) writing/prayer workshop, ’cause you know, I thought maybe I could offer something. There are wonderful people like you in every corner of the world who aren’t afraid to let us all jump in and try. (Hey, there’s that word again…’jump.’ So many were blessed because you did, clearly.)
We didn’t get to connect Jody but I love that you offered yourself for the retreat next weekend. I did something similar today (in a much smaller context) and realized that it was one of the beautiful results of spending time with you all!!. I felt so alive and passionate and the Holy Spirit just did his thang.
looks amazing. and very healing. someday I will join you in this ‘adventure’ and be challenged …
“When God sends people and they’ve got gifts and they can help, let them.” Yes. What a wonderful post. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time. Thank you for humility and the gift you gave others, to receive their gifts. (You’ve done that for me too.)
Deidra, I am so glad that you were able to enjoy this retreat more than the first one by using all the lessons learned that you have enumerated. I am especially happy about that fact that you were able to “Enjoy the Experience”. I noticed this when you invited me to take a rocking chair and to join you and the other women on the front porch. You seemed to be taking it all in. Although I could not be at the entire weekend, I certainly enjoyed my experience of Saturday. The whole day was fantastic, from the conversations, inspiring teaching, vulnerable sharing, and relaxed visiting with people. It was a wonderful day. Thank you for making it all possible!
Thank You, Lord, for choosing me to be among the cast of characters. I’m still so blown away by the whole experience that…wow…I wonder how long it will take me to process it. But I was meant to be there, and you were Jesus to me. All of you were.
“If you’ve got something going on and you need people to help, do not be choosy about the people God sends to you.” I love this. On a personal level that meant me walking into the arms of Carol for an unexpected breakdown. It meant letting Tammy walk me to my room to pray for me. It meant releasing all of my “I got this” to let God do the work however he saw fit. What a great weekend Deidra. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of it.
Beautiful 🙂
🙂
“When God sends people to you and he says, “Her. I want her to be part of this,” go with it. Because this is God’s story, you know? He’s quite clear about the cast of characters.”
I loved all of this, but especially this (above). It’s so easy to discount someone God is pointing out to you.
That bit jumped out at me, too. 🙂
Me three!!!!
I read this post eagerly, hoping you stole one of my photos! Then I saw my name! You are too good to me.
Thank you for taking all these things and putting them into practice. I’ve never seen anything quite like it! But I want to see more!
Love you!!
This is magic right here, girl. So glad YOU were able to retreat this year, too 🙂
It was all that and so much more. Grace-soaked. What a gift to be there, to sing and worship and have sweet conversations and, and, oh just everything! Love to you, lady. You’ve done a beautiful thing. With the help of the people God sent you 🙂
Thank you for this! Though I wasn’t there, it sounds wonderful! The points you gave are so apropos for me because I launched my blog this week and I’m trying to figure things out. Remembering those things are key to not get bogged down in the details and miss the experience.
Oh I love this and I loved the retreat. God always knows who and what we need.
Hi Deirdra!
I am so glad you listened, obeyed, learned & did it again, in a BeautyFull Team way.
Thank You for sharing your HeartWords here. I’m also so glad that you couldn’t get away without writing/posting the last section above. If for no one else, it was exactly for me. God is telling me to watch for the “Hers” that He is sending for me to Team with for a Retreat that is still a HeartDream. Yet, will Happen!
I’m so glad that you were able to fully Retreat this year at yours. It is so important for us Women, Daughters, Whom He Adores to Retreat with One Another, With Him. Oh the Beauty of it just astounds my senses!
Blessings. Prayers for you, your family & ministry.
{HUGs} Love Ya! Susie 🙂
SusieMM413MountainMinistry
Lovely, lovely. So happy the time was rich, that you had so much good help, that God, as always, in ways that were real and surprising.
The things I love most about you, is how you make others feel. Accepted. Valued. Embraced. Seen. So glad you hear the Spirit say, “Her!” So much in my heart from Jumping Tandem. Still trying to let it all soak in and be lived out. You were all such a gift.
Totally agree with this. And yes I’m still trying to soak it all in too!
And you Frances…. you are tooooo adorable and since I have a daughter getting married in a few weeks, I’m using a few of your ideas. 🙂 Loved it all!
Awesome! Just change the colors to camo and you’ll be all set! 🙂 Thanks friend.
Can I pop in here and agree with you both: Rhonda and Frances 🙂
Yes!
Such a beautiful rendering of your heart in these words Deidra. I have some fond memories imprinted in my mind of that first retreat, one of them being a private conversation you and I had. I was with you in spirit for this one, missing all the lovely people but holding all of you close in my prayers. Love you much!
Deidra,
I’ve read your devotions on (in)courage, the high calling, and now on holy experience, now here. 🙂 I so appreciate your perspective, honesty, your efforts to help communicate across cultural lines, and your desire to have the body of Christ learn to be one in unity. Not necessarily in agreement, but one in heart, of love, respect, etc. I can’t quite put to effective words so you understand what I’m trying to say. You, know, I may not be understanding what I’m trying to say.
I just read Ann Voskamp’s blog, and it hit me hard. I so much have experienced the….even though I may disagree, or you disagree, please save a seat for me, I want to still be in relationship with you. I still want the conversation to keep going, I still want to understand. Just because I may disagree, this doesn’t mean I am rejecting you, I am simply disagreeing. I may need more time to understand and agree, and then again, I may still disagree, but I still love you, and respect you as a person. Thank you so much for expressing what has so far not as far as I know that fact that I still want relationship even though we may not agree. I am not a writer, but you got it down my feelings so well. Ann’s blog most of the time doesn’t have comments, but I wanted to express how much I appreciate you saying what I have a hard time writing down on paper, but desire in my heart.
Blessings,
Joanne
I’m still sad I couldn’t join you there. I really wanted to and things in my life went crazy all at once. I am so glad that it was all it needed to be for you and everyone that attended. Perhaps next time I will be able to join you there, God willing.
So glad to have found you, saw your guest post on Ann Voskamp’s site and wanted to see more of you 🙂 Looking forward to hearing more of you…