A Mountaintop Experience -- Actually in the Mountains!

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains.  From where shall my help come?  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.  ~  Psalm 121:1-2

I just had the amazing privilege and blessing of spending the past four days in Colorado at a women's retreat called "Captivating," sponsored by Ransomed Heart Ministries and John & Stasi Eldredge.  It was stunning.  Breathtaking.  Life-changing.

And yet, last week I had decided I didn't want to go.... "WHAT am I doing spending all this money to fly out of state to a retreat when I have just lost my job?"  Gary kept having to remind me gently that when I registered for it in February I didn't KNOW I was not going to have my job by the time the retreat happened, but still..... I was pretty agonized about the whole thing....beforehand. But deep inside I really knew that God did have a plan.  He had led me to sign up, and He was in control.  So I went. 

For this Texas girl, riding up the steep and winding mountain pass in the bus which came to take us from the Denver airport to Crooked Creek Ranch and seeing snow still capping the peaks towering on either side, it was utterly amazing.  I left the 90-degree April weather back in Austin and entered a snowy, forest paradise, the beautiful Young Life property nestled in the Rocky Mountains, and felt a little like we were being given a glimpse of heaven already!  It didn't take long for the feeling of nervousness about the impracticality to fall away and I felt my heart open in anticipation for what we would experience. 

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. ~ Psalm 51:7

And SNOW it did!  Almost the whole time we were at the retreat, white, thick, beautiful snowflakes fluttered down, billowing up in drifts around the paths we were walking as we hurried between the lodges and meeting halls.  It was spectacular!  We had to touch it, taste it, stomp our feet in it – and even make snow angels.  It was like God was so clearly saying, “I’m here.  I love you, and I am giving you this glorious gift to show you.”

And along that same line, words that quickly rose up out of the retreat, the worship songs, and the speakers were ~

Healing

Restoration

Surrender

Acceptance

We were encouraged to bring our wounds, our disappointments, our broken hearts to the God who loves us, who cherishes us, and who doesn’t want us to drag along in life carrying burdens of regret, guilt over mistakes, or torment because of the “if only’s” of our past.  We were allowed to go off by ourselves and journal about the truths we were hearing, and allow Him to begin healing and restoring us. 

"Come now, let us reason this out," says the LORD. "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool.  ~  Isaiah 1:18 - NLT

Here are a couple of excerpts from one entry of my journal this past Saturday as I sat bundled in a big comfy chair turned around to face the windows and soak in the snowy view ~

God, as I look out the window to this mountain paradise with the soft flakes of snow still coming down, covering all the rough, rocky places, powdering the landscape with a pristine beauty, I know that this is what you offer to do with me and with each of the ladies here.  You promise to heal, restore, cleanse, and make beautiful my life, my soul, my heart, my past, my present and my future.

*********

I have a messed-up life that is covered by beautiful, powdery-white forgiveness and mercy from my Father.  Lord, you can make all the rough edges soft and smooth.  You can cover over the mistakes, the sins, the faults and weaknesses with a lovely blanket of acceptance. 

And I share this with you because you can have the same (even without the actual snow).  You can have healing for the wounds of your heart.  You can be relieved from the weight of the burdens you are lugging around unnecessarily.  Study these photos I am sharing with you – these are actual ones that I took this weekend – and picture God softening your rough edges, forgiving your mistakes and blanketing you with beauty…..like the snow.   You….are….captivating!

LORD, before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.  ~  Psalm 90:2