Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Dearest God,

"Living Water - Quenching the Human Thirst" is the theme of our Maine Women's Retreat. The women will be here in six hours. I have a lot to do before they arrive.

I have been inspired as I have written the retreat, "living water" exercises, prayerful reflections, and challenging words. I have danced with you through the pages as the words came swiftly, easily and beautifully. The language of this retreat has been the language of your heart. Entering into it has been a deep joy.

The retreatants are now in the air, making their way from Indiana to Maine. What do they expect? Hope for? Want to have happen? Are they seeking God in a peaceful setting? Do they intend to experience you at the ocean? In our friendships?

Expectancy, that human feeling of hopeful happening, is an exciting thing. It buoys us, putting our whole system on alert. Something good will soon unfold, we tell ourselves and we give ourselves to it. The women have been looking forward to this special time for weeks if not months. They know our time together will be good. They don't know what altogether to expect, except that they expect the unexpected. They know God will be here in Maine on Pleasant Street. In the food, the fellowship, the joy, the friendship, the spiritual exercises, in the sharing, worship, meditation and prayer. They have come to know you are with us.

I have done my work, preparing my own spirit and my home. I have written the words of retreat. Yet, I know the best is yet to come. Your own dear Spirit will move us, inspire us toward a deeper relationship with you.

Come, Lord God,
come to us.
Send us
on our pilgrim journeys.
Set our feet
on solid ground
that leads us
to you.
Move us forward
into the realms of heaven
where we shall find
our greater selves.
Draw us into you
that we may drink
from the well
of living water.

Love, Andrea