What a weekend! Truly, it was a God-infused, all-about-Jesus weekend of which I was SO BLESSED to be a part. THANK YOU to all of you who blessed me with your prayers and support and kind words. I am forever grateful.

I’ve been basking in the after-glow since I’ve been home from the retreat, trying to think of how I would describe it to you. This is what I’ve come up with: I think that when we really get out of the way and let God work through us, we are the recipients of a remarkable experience. We are able to see that we are really insignificant in the equation; it’s no longer about us. We are just the imperfect vessel through which He pours out His Word. Upon that realization, we can sit back with the audience and be awed by Him, blessed by Him, nourished by Him. Really, amazed by Him. The deal is, I would NEVER have been able to get out of the way if not for your covering of prayer. So, again, I oh-so-humbly thank you.
I have a couple of points from the weekend that I will be blogging about over the next couple of posts, but there was one other experience that I wanted to tell you about today; one I’ll remember for a long time to come.
After the last session with our key-note speaker (I was one of the break-out speakers), we had an extended time of ministry. The pastor’s wives and small group leaders were asked to come to the front to pray with anyone who might be in need. I made my way up with that group, and one by one, ladies began to come up to kneel at the altar or pray with one of the leaders. Interestingly, no one came to me. In fact, I was the only one that wasn’t praying with anyone! I quickly realized that the Lord had something different for me during that time. As there was instrumental music quietly playing in the background, I just began to listen. On top of the music, there were quiet sniffles as people wept. Then, there were words rising on the air.
“My divorce…”, “I’m so angry…”, “my daughter…oh, my daughter!”, “abuse…”,
“my husband’s cancer…”, “broken…”, “I’m so lost…”.
Sad words. Desperate words. But then, there were more.
“Heal her, Father…”, “replace her anger with the gladness of Your spirit…”, “Thank You that you have conquered death…”, “You are the Great Physician…”, “I know the plans I have for you, sayeth the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope…”.

I stood there with tears streaming down my face, for there was such beauty in this moment. With each word of desperation that these women placed on the altar, there was a word of healing over their sacrifice. I could almost see the smoke curling up to heaven, carrying the fragrance of their offering; a pleasing aroma to our Lord. Our pain and brokenness is a thing of exquisite beauty to Him, because, once sacrificed, He can replace it with healing and hope.
So, yes, I’m basking in the after-glow, and still carrying a bit of that fragrance in my senses. I pray that you will enjoy a few moments of it yourself this day.
You must present a burnt offering as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Numbers 29:36 (NLT)
Our lives are like a Christ-fragrance raising up to God.
2 Corinthians 2:15 (NLT)