Chrysalis

I had an absolutely indescribable weekend at this retreat called Chrysalis… I don't know if anyone will take the time to read this but I just want to share because God is AMAZING! And that's the bottom line… 

** First off, if ANY of y'all get the chance to go on a Chrysalis Flight, take it! It will be a remarkable three days!

Over the weekend, I learned a lot. A lot about God, myself, and the people around me… I was able to FINALLY surrender some things to God that I had deeply buried within me. It was hard… it still is, and I hate that I let myself hold onto some things for so long, all the while these burdens and struggles were becoming a part of me, the very core of me… and I didn't even realize it till I was in deep. But God is still there. His LOVE is still there. That's what I hadn't realized… well, i guess I had realized it, but I hadn't accepted it. God's love for us runs SO deep… we will never fully understand His love. His UNCONDITIONAL love. I just love that – unconditional love. These are a couple quotes from the weekend that struck me…

"When I became closer to God, I realized I wasn't inadequate, but different." 
I have grown to hate the lie "I'm not good enough", and hearing one of the leaders say this quote I realized how completely true it is… and a lot of it depends on whose standards we're measuring ourselves up to… God's or the world's?

"Preach the Gospel all the time; use words only when necessary." 
This goes along with the saying "actions speak louder than words"… it's so true, I've seen it so much in my life this past year. This was my first year going to public school, and I saw that most everyone had heard about God a lot and just hearing the same things over and over wasn't going to affect them, but LIVING out what you believe in is SO crucial… and I have failed at this time and time again. One girl over the weekend said, "Sometimes the only Bible someone will read is you"… that was really eye-opening. One little thing you do could impact someone so greatly, we don't even know… Why would someone want to become a Christian if your life, as a Christian, seemed the same as their life? 

The Christian life is a life of surrender… which takes so much trust and faith, but over the weekend I experienced surrender in so many areas of my life, and it is truly the sweetest thing. "At the Cross You beckon me, draw me gently to my knees, and I am, lost for words, so lost in love, I'm sweetly broken, holy surrendered!" (GREAT song!) 

Coming to a place of surrender and acceptance of God's love was huge in my life over this weekend… but it's still the trust and faith parts that I struggle with. But when I think about it, it seems so silly, why would I not trust the Creator of the universe?

A couple songs that everyone should listen to, if you have time, and then I'm done… Times by Tenth Avenue North and Beautiful by Phil Wickham!!!

One last thing (I promise!), you can't grow if there are struggles and burdens and lies living inside of you that you won't give it God. Those things just hinder our relationships with Him… so give them to Him! His yoke is easy and His burden is light! And a relationship can't exist when the two people involved don't regularly communicate with each other and spend time with each other… that's the same with our relationship with God….

Thanks for letting me share a snapshot of my weekend… I know it's scattered… that's my brain for you… and it's rather hard (and impossible!) to shrink God and His UNCONDITIONAL love into a teeny box of words… (: