Testimonies from the Rez Women's Retreat
The women of Resurrection recently took a weekend retreat together in Front Royal, Va., and experienced a great time of fellowship and worship. Here are a couple of testimonies that should give you a glimpse of the experience.
By Dee Daniels Scriven
When the Women’s Retreat was first announced at Rez, I thought, “What a perfect idea. The women of Rez need to step away from the madness of the city to rest, reflect and get to know each other better.” When I found out that the speaker was Sally Breedlove, I hopped on Google to find her name or website and figure out what she might talk about. I found her website (www.sallybreedlove.com) and on her list of speaking topics I found two I was dying to hear about – finding rest in God, and hearing the story God wants to tell through our lives.
When Sally began speaking Friday night she introduced the topic for the weekend – finding rest in God. Woo hoo!! I was so excited. I’ve been unemployed for the past 10 months, and even though I have kept pretty busy, I have found it immensely difficult to rest in God. I don’t think I was the only one who was excited or nervous; resting in God is a germane subject for women of every age and stage of life.
In a completely genuine way, with the perfect blend of the Bible and stories from her own life, Sally used the first session to discuss and define rest. Sally began by describing essential loneliness, stating that many times we feel as if we are standing outside of one door and therefore feel like we are on the outside. If we could only walk through that door (i.e. have the latte, get the job, get married, have a baby, make more money) we would be all right. Sally asked us where our home was and referenced Psalm 90 and Psalm 95. God is our home; He is present. To find rest we need to stop, celebrate and let the present be imperfect. I can stop. I can celebrate. But let the present be imperfect? What? Sally reminded us that the most “abysmally imperfect moment” was Jesus on the cross. She ended the session reminding us that life is not all up to us, that God is still God.
The next few sessions Sally tackled the obstacles that keep us from resting in God – fears, lies that we believe and relationships. In regard to fears, Sally spoke about naming our fears and facing our fears. She discussed the danger of not wanting to hear the truth and just wanting to hear pleasant things (Isaiah 30:10). Although God does not make any guarantees as to what life on earth will hold, God offers Himself (Psalm 46) and reminds us to repent, rest, be quiet and trust in Him (Isaiah 30:15).
In regard to the lies or false narratives we believe, Sally discussed how Christ was tempted (Hebrews 4). She talked about how we, unlike Christ, fall for the same temptations – treating our unmet needs (even though they may be legitimate), preoccupying ourselves with others’ misconceptions about us, and asking if God is God, why doesn’t he do “x”? The solutions Sally proposed to combat these temptations were not easy, but they were true. The solutions included trying not to zone out or numb ourselves, humbling ourselves, knowing our deep needs so that we draw close to God (Deut. 8:16), looking to God (Hebrews 2:17-18), worshipping Him only and trusting that God is wise, loving and powerful.
Regarding relationships, Sally began by stating that relationships are not a technique for getting what we want. Her first point was the love of God – we can’t give anything we don’t have. The second point was focusing on the kind of person God meant for us to be. She facilitated a discussion on relationships using these words: wisdom, hope, mercy, sacrifice, kindness and love.
I could go on and on, but hopefully this gives you a small sense of what we covered. I hope that the sessions were recorded somehow; this was a topic that all Rez women and probably all Rez men need to hear. Huge thanks to the planning committee! I can’t wait for next year’s retreat.
By Elyse Anderson
I was greatly blessed by the first ever Rez Women’s Retreat! It was an amazing time of teaching, fellowship and reflection, which ultimately culminated in rich worship. Our guest speaker, Sally, touched on a host of issues—finding true rest in Jesus, confronting our fears and in a separate session, the markings of healthy relationships, all of which I think resonated with the group of Rez women who had gathered together in Front Royal.
Sally spoke at length about our human impulse to seek to meet legitimate needs by illegitimate means. She helped us to see that this response typically stems from a fear that the Lord won’t meet our expectations, and as such we look to have our ears ‘tickled’ elsewhere with false promises, which ultimately leave us even more unsatisfied. Her teaching was grounded in both scripture and experience. Receiving wisdom from a godly woman who has faithfully walked with the Lord for decades was a welcome perspective for our relatively young church.
One of the most encouraging parts of the weekend was the time set aside for personal testimonies. While the particulars may vary in our individual journeys, God’s nature is consistent. Hearing different women testify to God at work in their lives, particularly during valleys or seasons of uncertainty, was extremely powerful.
Last, it was terrific to see so many new faces at the retreat! The challenges of building community in a busy city were neutralized, and we were given the space to go deeper in relationship than we could ever hope to go on any given Sunday.