Last week we pondered this time of reset – an opportunity to slow down, reset our priorities, and move forward with intention, specifically with God at the helm. Then I was focusing on just having returned from our wintering in Florida. I was looking forward to literally this next season of rebirth internally and was reminded of its exquisite timing as I observed nature’s glorious rebirths of spring.

So of course the Ruach Shabbaton was perfectly timed. What a shift to go from full on, even beyond normal busy because of travel and moving, to the peace of last weekend. I must profusely thank those Ruachites who made this possible and I pray they will have similar opportunities to recharge their batteries as did those of us who went, for the days away were extraordinary. Personally, being at the Shabbaton brought to culmination a two year pondering and wandering which now has been illuminated and been given direction in how I am to better serve Him.

It is not necessary to discuss the specifics for He has a plan for each of us, one which is vibrant and not static which is why our life’s journey needs Him intricately and intimately involved. It is not necessary to discuss the powerful reveal, nor the days since the Shabbaton in which clarity continues to come. What is important is how all of that came to be.

It was in the sleeplessness at night, the quiet of the morning, the community in prayer, the fellowship, the meals together, the devotion of a weekend to Him, all of that making Him the focal point of our days, our secular concerns temporarily on the shelf. The clarity only came with that extreme dedication to Him.

I know that is an impossibility once we’re not at a retreat. So how can we keep Him as the center of our focus when living in the real world and not artificially sequestered? Besides the location, what was different about my time with Him last weekend?

We’ve already acknowledged the importance of the three Cs – Community, Constant prayer/conversation, and Consistent Scripture study. The nuance that I’ve realized is there is another aspect to staying connected with our Creator (the paramount C) and it is the easiest to accomplish. No matter how busy, or where, no one owns your thoughts. They are silent. They are His.

It is in those thoughts that He dwells for He is in our hearts. The space at Shabbaton allowed me to see this truth but it is true everywhere. Our Creator knows every hair on our heads, perhaps that description more meaningful than we think for He knows every cell of that gray matter that rests beneath those hairs too. At a retreat we raise our awareness of His Omnipresence. We tap into it. It becomes palpable in different ways. It is in the conversation, frivolity, activities, music, meals, interactions. Yet there is recognition of that which we may find harder to notice unless there is quiet time as well.

In the silence of our thoughts He is waiting, and there is a lot of room, for no matter how busy doing, we all have many moments between those times of busy-ness when our brains are still on, receptive. Deliberate times for Him are important, but so are the non structured ones. For in those spaces we can have those quiet times mentally which are so fruitful when our part is just asking and waiting for His promptings, interspersed with plentiful words of thankfulness. The beauty of this approach is His timeline is not ours, and we may not have time for what we are being asked to do when asked, or we may not even get it! He is patient. We are what we are. What a glorious relationship thankfully because He loves us so.

I came away from the Shabbaton with such direction. Nothing life changing to anyone other than myself, but overwhelming to me in the intimacy with which He made me aware He is here, guiding me, always.

You don’t have to go to a retreat to experience any of what I have just described. You just have to have faith that what I am sharing with you is real. Our Creator is in it with each of us, every created being. We just need to keep Him in our thoughts when we, and He, are silent.

I pray that this week brings for you amazing times of silence and reset with our Creator as you continue your blessed walk with Him. The sound of silence is powerful, for it is really not silent at all.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane