Big Fun Vacation

Now I know from our blogs that it looks like we're having an awesome, carefree time at a wonderful resort...and yes we ARE having fun, and the place we're staying at IS really nice but there is a LOT more to it than just that. The very first morning it was put to us this way: we get the opportunity to spend the next 2 whole months totally and fully enveloped in learning about God; Who He is, who we are in Him, and how we can serve Him. The following is the schedule for week 2, themed Hearing God's Voice.

 The sessions we were in today were themed around hearing God's voice through Scripture. We learned a couple of ways to read the Bible in a way that makes it come alive and speak to us in our regular everyday devotional time. There is SO much information packed into these sessions that by suppertime I am totally pooped and want a nap. The rest of the week is being spent learning how to hear God's voice in other ways (through surroundings, through silence and solitude, and through the heart). You will also see in the schedule that all of this hearing God's voice stuff is leading up to a 48-hour silent retreat which is basically the time to put all we've learned into practice by shutting-up and listening. I may add more information about that in a later blog. And yes, by silent retreat I mean SILENT - no speaking, no singing, no noise, no internet, no music, no reading (other than the Bible), no notes, no gestures, no communication of any kind even to the extent of eye contact. It sounds really extreme and some of the stories from previous retreats have been hilarious (a guy plugging a toilet and trying to not talk while trying to find a plunger) but we feel this is going to be an amazing experience where we finally listen to what God has to say to us instead of constantly talking.