Well I survived. I shared
with my Facebook friends last Thursday that I was going off the grid for a few
days. No phone…no watch…no
computer. Anyone that knows me well
knows that that is no easy task for me.
I love to keep in contact with friends and family through texts, calls
and e-mails and I love to use my computer to write, so having to go three and a
half days without the ability to do any of those things made me twitch a little
bit.
The reason I was without these devices was because I attended
the Brethren Way of Christ retreat for women.
One of the rules is that you are not to have anything with you that
could be a distraction. As we all know,
it is common that whenever you are with another person or a group of people,
texts are going off…phones are ringing…and many are searching the
Internet. So it makes sense that
removing anything to do with social media is a wise choice.
I was sure that I would miss my phone the most, so I was
surprised when that wasn’t the case.
More than anything, it really drove me nuts not having my watch on my
wrist. To not have a clue as to what
time is was, made me go just a little stir crazy at times. I wasn’t a girl scout growing up so I never
received any training on telling time by where the sun was and I couldn’t go by
how hungry I was…because I just might have eaten quite a bit of candy between
meals. As a result…I never really
suffered from hunger.
These few days made me realize how often I look at my watch in a
day’s time. Over and over again I caught
myself looking at my arm…only to see the pale, un-tanned skin where my watch
usually resides. Each time I glanced
down and realized nothing was there…reminded me of why I was at this retreat.
These past days helped me realize how important it is to remove
ourselves periodically from the chaos around us. We live in a world where the tyranny of the
urgent often dictates what we do next and that often leads us to feel somewhat
chained to the clock. We need to get this
job done by a certain time…this child run to the next practice…this meal fixed
so that another child can get to a game…this report done to share with the
Finance Board at church…and this shower taken quickly so we can go to bed and
do it all over again the next day. And
all the while…our texts are piling up, our phone is ringing and Google is
calling our name to do another search.
No wonder many have high blood pressure and ulcers. No wonder families are falling apart because
members are all going different directions.
No wonder many have lost their focus and have become too busy to spend
time with their Savior.
I learned a song at the retreat that shook me to the core every
time we sung it. I had never heard it
before but the lyrics brought such soothing to my very harried soul. It helped my frazzled mind become focused
once again as to what is really important.
I urge you to listen to the song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGRCjWNwAg0.
My prayer is that if you find yourself at the same place that I
was when I left on this retreat, these words will bring healing to your tired
soul. Jesus is waiting for you at the
river…all you have to do is meet Him there.
I can’t begin to tell you how much He longs to spend time with you and
how badly He wants to carry your burdens for you.
Don’t ever forget that He desperately loves you…
and so do I.
The River
By Brian
Doerksen
To the
river I am going
Bringing
sins I cannot bear
Come and
cleanse me, come forgive me
Lord I
need to meet you there
In these
waters, healing mercy
Flows with
freedom from despair
I am
going, to that river
Lord I
need to meet you there
Precious
Jesus, I am ready
To
surrender every care
Take my
hand now, lead me closer
Lord I
need to meet you there
Come and
join us, in the river
Come find
life beyond compare
He is
calling, He is waiting
Jesus longs to
meet you there
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