Happy Friday! Welcome to this week’s Friday Favorites (a link-up posting every 1st and 3rd Friday.) Last weekend I attended the Blessed Is She Wild Retreat and I am still thinking about and pondering what I learned so I thought Id make this Friday Favorites the Wild Retreat edition.
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This Week’s Fave Connections
Meeting Up with Family and Friends
Road trip with my mom to San Jose.
I had been looking forward to this retreat for a long time and since my mom and dad were in town for John-Paul’s First Communion on Sunday, I thought it would be great for my mom and I to attend the retreat together on Saturday. However, in all honestly, by the week of the retreat, I was tempted to just forget it. Our schedule was already packed and it seemed like things kept going wrong, although in my heart I knew I was meant to be there. I suspected that the evil one also knew it was important and was doing all he could to discourage me. Luckily once my mom was here I felt a better and I knew everything would work out just fine. 🙂
I got to spend the day with 1/5 of my BIS Team sisters
Having three sisters of my own, I know the bond you can have with another female, despite your personality differences. I am blessed to have found that same kind of sisterhood with the Blessed Is She sisters. I love, love, love my husband and he is my best friend but he is not a “girl friend” who understand the female need to connect with another woman.
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This Week’s Fave Lesson about Myself
Come Alive
Emily Wilson is an amazing woman – beautiful on the inside and out. This was the first time I heard her speak live and she did not disappoint. I was scribbling notes as quickly as I could and letting the tears flow freely. There were so many great points I’ve been pondering but one of my favorites was when she reminded us that “each women has their own light that only they can bring to the word.” The theme that each of us is unique and we have our own special gifts and a purpose in this life is one that is strong on my heart so when I hear it being shared I get excited!
For the past few years I had struggled with comparing myself with others and not feeling “good enough.” God has been teaching me and healing me of that feeling but as much progress as I’ve made, there are always areas in which God wants to dig a little deeper and heal us a little more. That’s what this weekend was for me.
I know I sometimes feel like there are two versions of me. The friendly, but quieter, version that would rather take a seat unseen in the back of the room. Then there is the more outgoing let’s-sit-in-the-front-row version of me that only family and a few close friends see. My goal is to become more comfortable in letting my “real” self come out more and not be afraid to just be myself and not to worry about what other people may think.
On the way to the retreat my mom and I were listing to the “Greatest Showman” soundtrack and although I love the song “This Is Me” I feel like I’m still figuring out who I really am. Instead, I am living the song “Come Alive.” These lyrics just highlight one of the lessons the Holy Spirit is teaching me”
“Come alive, come alive
Go and ride your light
Let it burn so bright
Reaching up
To the sky
And it’s open wide
You’re electrified…”
I feel like once I truly surrender then I’ll be able to say “This Is Me” because when we surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit and embrace who were are – good points and quirks alike – then we can come more fully alive. Our light is meant to bring warmth and brightness to those around us. I don’t want to keep that light dim out of fear. I want the courage to let it shine and make the world around me a little brighter because of it. 🙂
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This Week’s Fave Lesson about the Holy Spirit
The Spirit is Moving
Tricia Tembreull is a firecracker for the Lord and she really brought the point home that the Holy Spirit is alive and moving and that Jesus wants to unleash the Holy Spirit in us. I can’t help but remember how the apostles were after Jesus’ death – discouraged, scared and hiding. However, after the Holy Spirit was let lose they were like new men. So much so, that the people thought they were drunk! That same Holy Spirit is ready to move in our lives to and to work through us. Are we willing to let Him?
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This Week’s Fave Image of God
God as the Reckless Lover
The theme of God’s “Reckless Love” has been on my heart every day since the retreat. This was especially brought home by Beth Davis’ talk. I needed to be reminded that God doesn’t just want my Mass attendance or my obligatory 15 minutes of prayer, He wants my heart. Moment after moment, situation after situation, He is running after my heart and trying to win over my trust. He loves me more than I can understand it frankly, it still baffles me. Lately, it’s all I can think about during prayer. This reckless, all consuming Love and how I can return that love back to Him.
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This Week’s Fave Music
Praise & Worship with Mary Costner
I am relatively new to Praise and Worship music and I’m not a real “raise your hands” person but by the end of the retreat Mary’s beautiful voice and gentle encouragement had me loving all the music and lifting my hands as we worshiped, to the delight of my charismatic mom. 😉
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This Week’s Fave Moment
Jesus Comes to Me in the Eucharist
The retreat ended with Benediction and Father brought Jesus in the Monstrance to each of us and it was a powerful witness to the reckless love of God that seeks us out. Our Lord will not rest until He finds us and draws us back to Him.
As I knelt there in prayer waiting for Father, I just kept thinking to myself… I feel like my heart has been completely torn apart. I am in pieces. That’s when Jesus whispered to me that He allowed me to be torn apart so He could put me back together properly.
It reminded me of when my kids were little and they were trying to put a puzzle together. Sometimes they had the pieces in the wrong places and they kept trying to shove it in but it didn’t work because that piece was not meant for that place. That’s how my heart was. I had pieces in the wrong places and trying to shove them into to fit and Jesus had to undo it all in order to place everything back properly. Instead of a jumbled mess, He put my heart back together as it was meant to be. Cue tears.
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This Week’s Fave Catholic Product
BIS Retreat & WIND Necklace
There are still a number of BIS Wild Retreats happening this year and I strongly encourage you to try and make one! You can get more info for the retreats in St. Paul, Minnesota (Aug), Houston, Texas (Oct), Washington DC (Nov), and can you believe it, Dublin, Ireland (Nov) at BlessedIsShe.net.
Photo credit: Blessed Is She.net
It is amazing that God has opened the door for Blessed Is She to go to Ireland. The Catholic women who live there said their country desperately needs the Holy Spirit to be unleashed. If you’d like to help with this mission, consider purchasing this beautiful WIND Antique Silver Necklace made by Pink Salt Riot. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Ireland Retreat this November.
So sign up for a retreat, purchase your necklace, spread the word and be ready for the Holy Spirit to be unleashed in your life!
Those are my favorites of the week! What have you been enjoying?
I’m also linking up with Kelly for this week’s 7 Quick Takes.
Have a great weekend!
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[…] I was at last year’s Blessed Is She’s Wild retreat, I heard Emily Wilson Hussem speak. We knew each other online, but it was the first time we met in […]