Click here to read PART 1. 

Get ready for another long entry. (Fun photos at the bottom, I promise.) The second day of the retreat Andea, Amanda, and I woke up and prepped breakfast for the ladies. An oatmeal & yogurt bar with lots of fresh fruit, bacon, mimosas, other juices, delicious coffee, etc… It was yummy.

Immediately after breakfast was my “talk”. We all gathered around the living room with coffee mugs and journals in-hand. There was so much I wanted to say, but I tried to pack it all into less than an hour.  I spoke about warring against fears as we pursue the gifts God’s blessed us with.

PURSUIT: Warring against fear and comparison as you pursue your gifts/talents. 

Romans 12:5-6 “So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.”

Here are some questions I asked the ladies to answer (some shared aloud which was pretty cool). TRY it. You’d be surprised by how liberatingit is to WRITE DOWN your fears. To speak them and DO something about them.

Personal Reflection Questions:

1.  What lies or what fears seems to paralyze you from pursuing your gifts/talents? (Write down at least 3 fears that you’re currently struggling with.)

2.  How do you tend to respond to fear?

3. Who/What/How are you comparing yourself to or idolizing?

4. In what areas do you need to show yourself more GRACE? In what ways can you remind yourself that you are a redeemed child of God blessed with special gifts?

More notes from our discussion……

To change your perspective, the first thing you have to do is stop comparing yourself to others. The Bible says satisfaction comes from doing your best, not comparing yourself to others: “Let everyone be sure to do his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work done well and won’t need to compare himself with someone else” (Galatians 6:4 LB).

We were all created to use our gifts to their fullest potential and shower the world with the goodness they bring.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.’ – Marianne Williamson

In order to harness the core heart of what makes you tick, you have to face your fears and do the work to let go of what holds you back.

Our role is to be faithful and to seek ways to serve others with what Christ has given us. Ask “How can I serve others with the gifts I have been blessed with?”  Romans 12:5-6 (Gifts)

We must be BOLD. Go forth and do. “Let your faith be bigger than your fear” 2 Timothy 1: 6-7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (Paul urged Timothy to be bold. When we allow people to intimidate us, we neutralize our effectiveness for God. The power of the holy spirit can help us overcome our fear of what some might say or do to us, so that we can continue to do God’s work.)

We must be ok with failing. Failing makes us stronger. Most fears may never come true. If you’re in the midst of what you think is failure, ask God to grow you and use you for his Glory.  Failure isn’t fatal. It’s failing to learn & change from failure that’s fatal.

 

After our morning discussion, we were revved up and ready for the day! We devoted the majority of the afternoon and evening to using all our gifts in different ways. First, we put on a photo shoot. Each girl had their photo taken by at least one other person (there were probably 6 of us photographers), Andea and Amy did a really great job with the girls hair and make up, and some of the other girls helped “accessorize” the girls for their photos. Some girls helped with props and also helped “assist” the photographers.

When we weren’t shooting, some of the girls were partaking in other “creative activities”, wether that be preparing their dessert dish for our big dinner feast later that night, or making sweet wooden boxes filled with encouraging notes to go to a home of women who have been recently released from prison. Some girls practiced other gifts (writing, drawing, sketching, knitting, etc…) It was so neat to see girls in and around the cabin exercising these talents.

Since one of my “talents” applied to the weekend was creating the menu for the weekend and helping prepare all the meals, I was running in and out photographing some girls in a nearby field, and coming back in to prep lunch, then Andea did my hair and Amy did makeup for a few photos that Amanda and Allie took.  I didn’t get any photos of lunch. It was mostly finger food (veggies, dip, fruit, crackers, sliced meats, and yummy soups).

Here are some photos from the first part of the day. Aren’t these ladies breathtakingly beautiful?!

Next up are more photos of the beautiful girls and our big dinner feast!