Soul Sister Time

              This has been a week of twists and turns.   What I set out to do each day rarely matched the God-given agenda I actually experienced and I’m loving it.   It has taken me 50 years to accept the unexpected as an opportunity to remember how much I need God!             The unexpected makes me uncomfortable, sometimes hungry, most of the time spending more money than I had planned, always mysterious and often unexplained in the end.   I’ve learned to accept the value of the experience for what it is.   It is a privilege to go somewhere, meet someone or add some skill I never knew about before.             Perhaps it was the overwhelming experience of losing my husband suddenly that puts all the other unexpected experiences in context for me.   All I know is that something ...

I had a lot of expectations for a personal retreat I attended with my daughter at Laity Lodge in South Texas.   I expected to have a great time with her and with God bonding in a special setting and with great leaders.   I had been there once before and did not bring my bathing suit so I expected to go back to the famous blue hole and take a long deep jump into its pristine splendor.   All of these realities took place.   It’s what I didn’t expect that changed me the most.             I did not expect that this retreat would become a pivotal retreat in my relationship with God.   I attend lots of spiritual retreats in amazing settings, and I am always changed and moved by God’s presence in my life.   This was different.   This was transformational.   Many lessons from the past five years were detonated like a Fourth of July fireworks display in my soul.   I don’t think I could have...

            Something you really need to learn about God is that He will always do what you least expect.   In fact, I had a seminary professor who advised, if you want to know God’ will, then think about what you want and do the opposite.   I wouldn’t go that far; but if you want to make progress on the spiritual journey, you will only make real progress through hope.             I wrote earlier in the year about my disappointment with God for not allowing Brian and me to go to the Holy Land together.   I’m embarrassed about how much resistance I gave to God’s invitation.   Just when I conceded to the fact that God may not want us to go on that pilgrimage together, my husband wins a trip to the Holy Land and I can go with Him.   Of all the scenarios that I came up with about how Brian and I could go to Israel together, I can guarantee you that this o...