highlights

I've been working for about a month to organize the retreat our department took this last weekend. Part of the joy of working so hard on a project is getting to see people enjoy themselves at the actual event. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and the speaker was fantastic. Hubs even managed to flip himself upside down while flying down the Zip Line 50 feet in the air, a feat that would rival some of Spider Man's best moves (I thought it was really cute).

At the end of the retreat, we showered and washed our campfire-odored jeans and drove off to Tyler where one of my dearest and best friends, Katie, got engaged (surprise, Katie!) to her wonderfully sweet boyfriend Eric. They're one of the cutest couples ever, and I don't think anything could rival their level of excitement right now. I'm so excited for them!

But perhaps the best part of the weekend, for me, was hearing from Elliott Greene, our retreat speaker extraordinaire. Elliott spoke on spiritual discernment, and most specifically for me, the concept of being malleable to the will of God. To sum up the feelings I've had lately, it's been a spiritual struggle for me to be open to instruction. At times in my life when I feel insecure, it is then that a facade of pride arises in my heart and mind. It's as if I want to be proud of myself, to feel like I know something about life when my emotions can lead me to believe that I'm stupid. And it's at those times, which ironically are the times when I need wise counsel the most, that I become unteachable in myself and resistant to the loving instruction of my peers, and even of my sweet hubs who has been placed in my life by God to lead and guide me. This is not an attitude which the Lord finds glorifying. It feels good at the conclusion of a thoughtful, reflective weekend to repent of the revealed sin in my life and search my heart that God would reveal even more to me at where I struggle.