THIRD RETREAT CHALLENGE

 

Good morning, Ladies. Can I just say that if my daughter didn't have three dogs, three cats, and a baby, I 'd have a hard time finding photos to use here on the blog? Meet Piper (miniature doxie on the left) and Atri (at a younger age; she is now a grown kitty, though only in body; you would be hard put to find a more clueless cat  . . . ) Anyway, they epitomize our third retreat challenge. More on that below.

First, a reminder about all that we have going. Our third ever live blog weekend retreat starts FRIDAY. If you're just hearing about it or need a reminder, check out the last several posts for all the details. I hope you're coming up with your pizza idea for Saturday afternoon's contest and are being inspired by the challenges to write, draw, or photograph something to send to me ahead of time via email nnrue@att.net. (This one isn't a contest.)

I want to thank MELODY for her question about this. If you have a killer (not literally!) pizza in mind or your creative juices are flowing for a poem, etc. but you can't be here for the retreat, by all means send me those ahead of time and we'll include them. That way you'll still be with us in spirit.

As I've told you, our theme is sharing the Bread of Life without directly using words. Again, this is not to discount the absolute importance of giving your testimony or sharing Scripture with someone. We're focusing on "preach the Gospel always and use words if necessary" for two reasons:

        (1) If we witness with words and we DON'T witness with our actions as well, we can do a TON of damage. I'm sure you've heard people say they aren't interested in Christianity because most Christians they know are hypocrites. Sometimes they're right.

        (2) You're at a place in your life where you probably won't have a whole lot of luck standing up on a bench in the girls' locker room or in the middle of the dance studio or wherever and saying, "May I have your attention please? I'd like to tell you about Jesus." It is far more likely at this point that if you're actually DOING the Jesus thing, someone is going to come up to you privately and say, "How is it that you can rise above all this stuff?"

So that's what we're about right now. We've already talked about what you need to leave behind and how you can be a light in your own house. Here's the third challenge, the one Piper and Atri exemplify.

        Who do you need to work something out with before you can really  go to God authentically?

Jesus said:

"So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar  and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24

I peronally have several friends that I have neglected because of work. I want to call them and ask for their forgiveness and get back on track, but so much time has gone by I'm afraid they'll tell me what a bad friend I've been or hang up on me, both of which I probably deserve. I need to face that and do the loving thing, or anything I SAY here or in that writing work I'm so busy with turns into do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do. Yeah, I need to get on that. 

I also had a situation recently where someone did something thoughtless to me and I was building up some pretty serious resentment. Every day when I sat down for quiet time, I found myself ranting about that in my journal. It finally came to me (du-uh) that I needed to go to the person and lay the thing out in a thoughtFUL  way. Like most situations of that kind,  it was resolved so much more easily than it was in the scenes I was rehearsing in my head! I try to think, "Is God getting tired of hearing about this?" If the answer is yes, it's time to get out of my own way and offer the Bread of LIfe, without saying a word.

So whatcha got? Bad blood with a former friend? Unresolved issues with a sibling? Big time conflicts with your parents? You're welcome to share in a comment, of course, but mostly this is for you as we prepare not only for this weekend but for a being a better embodiment of the love of our Lord Christ.

My prayers are with you as you "go and be reconciled."

 

Blessings,

Nancy Rue   

 

Comments

[Paige]

Thanks so much for the post. I guess someone I need to reconcile with would be my dad although to be honest, I'm not sure how. I mean... we don't talk anymore pretty much at all and any time we do- we get in an argument. He thinks what I stand for is stupid and I can't change that. I'm not sure where to even start my reconciliation. It's been like this my whole life... Hm. I'll definitely be praying about that.

By the way, the St. Francis of Assisi quote is one of my absolute favorites, I adore the theme :)

[Melody]

I hate this post. It's exactly what I need. I've been trying to ignore it. Grrrrrrrr. Anyway, I know I need to reconcile with my youth pastor. She used to be like best friends with my family and she came over a lot and we went Christmas shopping with her and life was good. But, she's done a lot of things I don't agree with or feel like I can respect.

About a year ago she literally yelled at a friend and me for leaving after Bible study and skipping going out for snacks. Five minutes later she semi-apologized, then accused of us lying in the same paragraph and left in a huff. A few weeks after that incident I sent her an email with my side of the story, an apology, and also let her know she'd hurt me. I felt like this was the right thing to do and she never replied or acknowledged that she even received it besides one comment to me of "I need to think about it". It took a lot for me to even email that to her and she never even replied. I would have preferred her to just be like "I hate you" than just not replying. Since then our relationship has been like walking on eggshells and she's not even that good of friends with my mom anymore.

So really there are just all these little things she's done to me or other people and I feel like I just can't respect her anymore. Yesterday I said I liked her top and we exchanged like three sentences and that was our longest conversation in months. How on earth to I reconcile this? It's been festering and just sitting there so long that I feel like I should just drop it (which is what my mom has told me I should do) but I don't want to just leave it like this.

[Kate S]

thank you so much for this! sooo excited for this weekend!
honestly, i think i'm pretty good... i am still holding a grudge on the guy who messed up our visa paperwork, making us leave home for 3 months. i should get over that- it's done and over now, we have moved, it's been more than a year. i need to let that go.
my social life is awkward, if not non existent. i have my best friend... but ive never met her face to face, so i cant just stick by her in public. i know I am not the one making people not want to be friends with me- i am always smiling, giving compliments (not creepy or too much though!) and everything. but people dont care- they dont want to be friends. and yesterday, this girl totally dissed me (second time so far) when I said i liked her shirt. i'm just confused and a bit annoyed, so i suppose that's something to work past!

[Joy]

Hi I'm Joy from the tween blog but I turned 13 so I guess I'll be on here now too. :)

Anyways...so, a friendship issue I've been putting off dealing with for a while was something that happened a long time ago, I don't know why it hurt so much though, it's such a little thing. I went to this camp with my friend and she totally ditched me for this other girl and she wouldn't ever talk to me when I'd see her and whenever I'd smile at her she'd smirk and turn away and avoid me. I used to almost cry a lot of the times I would see her because of that. But that was when I was, like 11, so that was a long time ago...so then anyways moving on...

as for more serious grudges this is going to sound silly. But there was this girl or guy named Colinas on this prayer request website. S/He was not a Christian and was flooding the prayer request page with innappropiate bad stuff to put it nicely. After the tenth page the prayer requests roll off. So anyways...my grandpa was dying, right then and there at that very moment and I urgently needed people to pray...I went on there and put a request for prayer, and it was all flooded out by Colinas postings. My grandpa died that evening. Colinas probably only thought she was posting random bad things to tick us off, just idle words, but no, she killed my grandpa. :( Maybe that's a little extreme to say she killed my grandpa but sometimes I wonder if he'd still be alive it it weren't for Colinas.

another grudge I have, to be honest is myself. I just can't get over certain things I've done to myself. I've blamed it on other people and other people making me do certain things but actually it all comes down to me. I would always say that this person named Austin ruined my life (sick perverted dude from old school) but actually it was me. :( I really, really, just hate myself. And when I tell people that they say it's just a phase, everybody does at 13, or they say I need anti-depressants and need to see a Doctor. Hello! Seriously? No!

i also hold a grudge on, well, austin. He was just...lets not go there.

So I guess that's about it, sorry this was WAY long!!! oops. thanks though I needed this post.

~Joy

[Avery]

I know that I need to reconcile with one of my friends, but she can be hard to deal with. She's an amazing friend, but sometimes she makes me grit my teeth. So I'm going to try and get in touch with her this week and try to sette a quarrel we had a while ago. Also, I've had some arguements with my siblings and I know that we fight all the time but I feel like I need to ask for forgiveness with them too, even if it is gonna be hard. Well, I'm praying for all yall! Love yall!

[Caitlin]

Joy, those people are wrong. I'm fine with myself and I'm 13 too.

I needed this post a lot more than I thought. I will pray for all of you girls:)

[♥♫LeXi♥♫]

Someone I really need to reconcile with is a former friend. I mean, we get along just fine, but things just aren't what they used to be. We used to be best friends, and would always be together. But now, we aren't really close anymore, and never talk to eachother. We say hey and everything, but we never hang out like we used to when we were younger. I really miss those days, so I would really like our friendship to be back the way it used to be.

[Avery]

Joy, I know that it may seem like that person on the prayer request page was drowning out your prayer request for your Grampa's life, but nothing happens that God doesn't allow to happen. And take your sadness and pain to Jesus because I know that He WILL take your burdens from you if your willing to give them to Him. I'll be praying for you!

I'm really praying for you all!!! I know none of yalls issues are any of my business, but I just want yall to know that yall are in my prayers!

Mrs. Rue, I love that you take the time to blog on here for us girls! Thank you sosososososo much!!!

[Melody]

Hey everyone! So you know I've talked about Ballet Magnificat several times now, and I wanted to share their tour schedule. They're coming closer to the east coast than they have for awhile, including a stop in my state. I know most of you live around the East coast, so I would definitely recommend checking out the tour schedule (click on my name). They are an amazing ministry, fantastic dancer, and they're so on fire for God. So yeah, click on my name for the tour schedule, they are amazing.

I hope that's allowed Mrs. Rue, sorry if it's not :)

[Kate S]

just thought i should let you know- im writing a short story for the retreat- how far in advance do i need to email it to you? thanks!

[Therese]

Okay, to answer all three challenges...
#1) The thing I need to leave behind to follow Christ is selfishness, kind of like Nicole said. I need to lay my desires before Him and let Him guide me. I need to stop looking at the world through my eyes, complaining about what isn't right or trying to find its benefit for me. I need to look at others and see the world through their eyes and see their needs and their hurt. I can't change me world by complaining but by changing their's I can change mine.
#2) I feel like I need to be a light in my house by just being cheerful as so many things seem to be going wrong lately, I find myself in a dismal mood. But I should be an example of joy during trials to my mom and sister.
#3) The person that I need to reconcile with is my dad. I've forgiven him, but I feel like there is things unsaid that should be discussed. I have a need to tell him how I feel but he won't listen to me. He never was good at listening in the past. Having a serious conversation with that man is like pulling teeth! I love him, but he can be so difficult at times.
LEXI - I recently reconciled with a friend like that. we were best friends since we were toddlers and grew up together. Things changed as we got older and we had family issues between us, and had each unintentionally done each other hurt. It was hard to tell her how I felt at first but we talked and things are better now. We know things won't be the same as they used to be. We both got older and changed but even if we aren't the same girls who made our first batch of cookies together (with 3/4 cup of salt!)and who didn't know how to have any friends but each other, I know she will always be there for me, she is like my sister. you should definitely talk to your friend, its worth it. :)
Okay, sorry about all that rambling! I don't quite know if any of that made sense. :D

[Ariadna]

Man, I really wish I could be at the retreat! I had thought I would be able to make it, but it turns out I'm starting work on Friday afternoon and working Saturday afternoon too. :( Sadness. But I hope ya'll have fun. My 11 year old sister recently had an awesome time on the tween blog party. :)