Despite concern about meeting strangers, and having a roommate that I didn’t know, I went to the Jumping Tandem Retreat last weekend. Walking through the doors of this sunny lodge, the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders, even before the first “Hi!  What’s your name?”

 

Something in me was changing, breaking off of me, like pebbles sliding down an incline, right before a landslide hits.  Immediately, I wanted to know each woman, I wanted to try to make friends. Woman, and a few men, of varying ages and races all gathered together in one place to worship the Lord and talk about writing.  This culture of ours, we meet friends online, making friends across the miles – modern day Pin Pals, but we are Bloggers.

 

So many stories were told.   Stories of finding Christ and then discovering the dream that had been placed in their heart, and, despite difficult lives, the dream still lives.

 

The dream will always live in our heart because it is where God places the secret road map.  It is there because the dreams we dream are His dream for us as well.

_MG_3955_MG_3957_MG_4122_MG_4132

Before the last goodbyes and email addresses were scribbled on napkins, we celebrated the Sabbath.  We drank the juice of the vine, and ate the bread broken for you, and for me, and we cried.  Oh, how we cried.  Cried for joy, cried because of brokenness, crying because sometimes women just need to get it out.

 

And the landslide begins to move. The rocks in my heat begin to tumble, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of never measuring up one rock after another came tumbling down. Beginning in heaven and coming down to my heart, like streams of water in the desert, flowing into the soul of this dry desert dweller.

_MG_4190

I wept uncontrollably.  Embarrassed, I turn my face into the wall.  I was broken, and I only wanted my Father to hold and comfort me.

 

His voice whispered softly and peacefully, as worship continued in the room, covering my heart like a salve to heal my broken  soul and I hear, “Broken is Beautiful”.

 

“No”, I argue, “Broken is swollen eyes and nose running everywhere, and people look at you in judgment, and no one wants to be your friend.  No, Broken needs to be hidden away from everyone!”

 

As only God can do, stories from childhood come flooding into my conscience thoughts.

 

And He broke the bread, so that it could be shared.

 

He tore the veil so that there could be community in the communion.

 

He broke the fish into pieces so that all could partake.

 

And he allowed Himself to be broken so that we could find our way back home.

 

And, He allows me to be broken, so that the love of Christ could be seen through the cracks in my life.

 

A slab of diamond never causes the on looker to gasp at its beauty.  It is the diamond that has been broken and chiseled by the Master’s hand that people desire.  It is because of the missing pieces, the places that have been broken, that brilliant light is reflected to the world.  A diamond needs two things to be desired, brokenness and light.

 

This weekend, at the Jumping Tandem Retreat, a group of about one-hundred diamonds came together, and we allowed our broken places to come into the light for others to see – we were real, we were non-judgmental, we were encouragers.

 

And we saw brokenness is the foundation for God-Size Dreams to happen.

 

Here is a slide show from our weekend together.

God-Sized-Button

The following two tabs change content below.
Diane W. Bailey is the founder of The Consilium – an online community of wisdom and purpose for women over 45 years of age. She is a published author. Her books include String of Pearls – From Tears to Treasure, and 30 Days To A Better Stepfamily. She creates her own line of precious metals bracelets. Diane lives in the Deep South with her husband Doc. Together they have created a stepfamily, each having two stepchildren and two birth children, and share three grandchildren, one black lab named Charlie and one long haired tabby cat named Lil Girl. Diane’s passion is to encourage women to be all God has created them to be by pressing past fear and daring to live life as an adventure. Some of her life adventures include traveling to Israel, speaking, entrepreneurship and backyard farming with Doc. She loves Gumbo, fried shrimp and seeing all sunsets across water.

Latest posts by Diane W. Bailey (see all)

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This