We got to the Church on Friday night and as we entered the sanctuary, we were greeted by all the people 'helping' with the event... and there must've been at least 20 people lining the aisle, who all greeted you by name (we had to wear name tags all weekend) and then hugged you, or shook your hand. We were already feeling awkward at this point... who can be prepared to hug 20 strangers all at once!? Sometimes I feel strange hugging people I do know! Anyway, in summary.. the whole point of the Cleansing Stream Seminar and Retreat is to help you learn to walk with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis and really recognize him at work in your life, and recognize & let go of the things that draw you away from Christ. The whole retreat was meant to release us from any 'baggage' we carry in our lives... whether it be addictions, self-esteem issues, past sins, anger, abuse... you name it. So the way the Retreat is set up, you listen to a pastor or church leader speak on a certain topic for about 20 mins. or so... and then you are instructed to stand, and follow with the leader in a 'repeat after me' prayer (not exactly our favorite kind of prayer, since it can seem meaningless at times) and then after praying to be released from the 'topic' discussed, they would invite the "anointers" to come forward (people who are designated to pray over you & with you) - and they would line up all the way across the front of the church in front of the altar. And then you would be released by pew to go forward and receive prayer. It should be an optional thing - since many topics were covered and obviously you wouldn't feel the need to be delivered from things you didn't struggle with... But the leaders kind of forced you into going forward for every issue. They would stand at your pew and say "you can go up now" and repeat themself until you got up! Yeah, nice. I guess in a way that was good, since otherwise I don't think Chris would have ever left the pew.. (and I may not have either.) Once you went up to the "anointer" for prayer - they would ask you how in particular you struggled with that area, and then lead you in yet another 'repeat after me' prayer - and then they'd touch your forehead with a drop of oil and you would be released from whatever was binding you...
So yes, it was interesting. Chris and I had never experienced anything like this in our lives... and it was good.. but at the same time, I found myself being very critical the whole weekend. Worship (singing to God) really has an effect on me and whether I feel the power & presence of God - and the band that led the worship sang older songs, and many that I didn't know... and I can't seem to worship God as well with songs I don't know the words to. So that did not help matters for me. And then we were asked to go up for prayer sooo many times, that after a while, you kinda' felt like "here we go again..." We did see many people crying & being delivered from some major hurts and issues, and for those people, I think the retreat was a wonderful thing. Even Chris said he let go of some major things in his life - like forgiving people in his past & such. No matter what, we both still grew from it, but it was just a different experience. It opened up the lines of communication between us much better - and it's become easier to talk about God together... Saturday night before bed even, we prayed together. I love hearing my husband pray. I can see him as a completely different person when I hear him talk to Jesus. I decided we should pray together every night. (Pray we stick to that!)
So perhaps our lives were not completely changed in the course of one weekend, like I thought they'd be... but maybe instead the life-changing is happening ever so gradually, and that it simply started this weekend. And that's not a bad thing.
Something else exciting, Chris got a mp3 player of sorts and he's been adding lots of Christian songs to it - Amen! So that means instead of us fighting over radio stations in the car, we plug this thing into our radio & we to listen to Christian songs he has downloaded that he likes (and of course I love!) And I'm completely amazed to hear what songs he likes - it's wonderful, and a complete blessing. :) (And he started this before the retreat weekend, even! hehe.)
And then came Sunday - Mother's Day. I got a beautiful silver/gold heart necklace that says "Mom" on it from Chris and I got a surprise gift from my girls (through my Mom).... She took the girls to Portrait Innovations 2 weeks ago while I was at work, and got their pictures taken. Amazingly, she was able to pick one pose (that's always the hard part, which is why you spend $200 when you go! hehe) and as long as you can pick 1 pose, they always have a $9.99 package and you get tons of pictures of that 1 pose. So the photo below is the one I got as my Mother's Day gift - I was sooo happy and surprised and declared that it was the best Mother's Day gift of all. :) I'm still amazed when I look at it - how their heads are tilted the same way, they're sitting the same, and they both have similar, genuine smiles - and how crazy it is they look like they could be twins! It's truly beautiful... and I'm so grateful for my Mom doing this for me.
Well, there's not much else to write about - though today we celebrate Chris' 29th birthday! I made him a funfetti cake (his favorite) and we'll be going to his parent's house for dinner this evening. I printed out a coupon for him for free ice cream at ColdStone and free spaghetti and ice cream at The Spaghetti Warehouse! YEA for that! Well, I better get back to work...
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