Silent Retreat

 

In April we did a Silent Retreat.  It was by invitation to our YL Leaders.  Some decided they wanted to participate - that was good...I knew when it was prompted upon my heart that not all our leaders would do this but a few would be interested and perhaps they would be given a platform to have an encounter with God they might not forget.  My hope:  to give whomever was here ( we did the retreat at my house) some space and time to be alone with the Father. 

Silence.  No words. No outward communication.  Words  - via prayer and journal entries....alone time with the Lord.  It was our night to be alone with the Lord, alone from one another, and a night to take all the time we needed to walk, talk, write, listen, sleep, read, or whatever we felt to worship and honor and BE WITH the Lord.  A silent retreat can be pretty intimidating.  For those that showed up  -it was an invitation into deeper intimacy than they'd experienced with the Living God.  For me - an opportunity to serve in a capacity that I have longed to do for some time now.  It was beautiful.

 

After a couple hours of initial silence, we came together for dinner with some worship (instrumental) music in the background and a meal that was wonderful - it was steak, corn, baked potatoes, chicken, salad, and sweet tea.  I'm telling you - this was a meal that the Lord showed up!  We ate like champions...in silence and worship.

 

After dinner, we took some down time....then it was out to the fire pit in the back yard.  We worshipped in a unique manner.  We prayed.  We talked with the Lord openly.  We were each handed a log to cast into the fire  -it could represent something in our lives that was in need of kindling the flame....or it could be something that needed burned, forgotten, sent to Hell - either we chose...either would happen - this was our prayer.  We experienced both - things needing ignited further by God and things needing to be burned with the finality of separation.  It was truly powerful.

 

At the end of the night....dessert.  Not all ate..but, it was good....a reminder of our sweet time with Jesus and time alone in silence and solitude.  The next a.m. we had a breakfast together in silence....then we broke our silence and discussed what the Lord had done in our lives. 

 

There is no substitute for time alone with the Lord, period. 

 

We will be doing this again - mark it down.

 

 

.....a privilege to serve Jesus in a manner that spoke volumes to my heart and did wonders from Him in the lives of a few YL Leaders in Loudon County.

 

His Peace,

-ao

A Mommy - for them...but so much for me!

This is how I view Olivia - she is my wife; she is Wyatt and Boone's mommy.  Olivia IS a Mommy.  Olivia works her tail off.  Olivia loves our little boys.  She takes care of them all day - everyday! Olivia wipes their tears away, she feeds them, she does crafty things with Wyatt.  Olivia runs and plays in the yard (and in the house) with Wyatt.  Olivia "wallers" on the floor with both boys.  Olivia rocks Boone to sleep; she sings to him every single day.  Boone lights up when his eyes meet Olivia's.  Wyatt talks of Mommy all the time - he mistakenly calls me "mommy" probably 7 out of ten times!  Olivia is on the minds of Wyatt and Boone.  Olivia Ogle takes her boys shopping, she takes them to the park - she lets these little tikes play (well, Wyatt is on his own...Boone is in her arms!).  She lets Wyatt play in the rain and make splashes in mud puddles.  Olivia prays over her babies.

Olivia - there is a cartoon named, Olivia.  My Olivia says the cartoon character, a little piglet girl, is a lot like how she is in real life.  She's fun, wacky, a little bit of a drama queen, and always learning things. If there is anything engrained into Olivia's heart and soul - it's being a wonderful and sweet and loving and unconditional MOMMY to our little boys.  I watch my wife be the mother of our children - this beautiful woman, the girl I always wanted....the one whom I chased for so long...the one whom I prayed over and handed my heart to at our wedding....the one whom I vowed to and gave my highest covenant on Earth - my commitment to her and no others (apart from Christ being first for us both).....I watch and I am in awe!  How does she do it?  It must be from God! It is a miracle....she can multi-task like nobody's business...and it is just effortless.  She is smooth.  She is good.  She is a mommy - she is the mommy in our house and for that I am more grateful than words can express.

To Olivia:  I love you with all my heart.  You are the one I always loved - you are the one I love always.  You are the light of our boys' days!  You ....you...you, Olivia Ogle - are adored by three boys in our home!  We all love you.  We all need you.  We all will go to the moon and back for you - may you always be Olivia....always a wonderful wife..always a wonderful mother....a role model and guider of so much in our lives.  WE love you!  I love you in ways I cannot express....ways I cannot write about...ways I cannot put on a blog (yippee!)....I love you in a manner that I know is from Him - the One who created you and me and our boys....who created mothers and gave you the deep-down gifts that exist within your soul that the rest of us on Earth can only marvel at!  He is the One we love....He is the One for us - all of us.  To my dear bride:  Happy Mother's Day 2009.  You are so cool.  You are an encouragement to me...to so many, and for me to be a better dad - because you are an awesome mother...a great mommy!  I love being a Daddy so much because of the Mommy you are to Wyatt and Boone - may it always be.

 

His Peace.

 

-ao

Things of insignificance....maybe not!

What happens to the little things? The things that matter to you - you know, those things that drive us crazy if we lose - well, that is probably my Obsessive Compulsiveness coming through....However, when I have something simple...something that I like and then I can not find it, it drives me nuts! I wonder if you can relate? Things that come to mind: pens, pencils, socks, pocket knife, certain spatulas, a favorite wallet or (fill in the blank). It could be anything - could be clothes or keys or music......it's the things that are little to "them" that mean something to "us" (or - me!). This is a story about a jacket....a jacket's job is to protect, to cover, to keep separate from the elements that which it is covering. Webster's says: "an outer covering or casing..."

This is the jacket I am referring to:

yep, that's right, my Blackberry phone case - a jacket for my phone. Well, I have had this thing since I got my phone. It reminds me a little bit of a purse - I call it my man-purse for my phone. But, once I got past the femininity of the original feel of that jacket...it was all good. Then, I had something - I had a cover for my nice phone that would protect it. I have dropped my phone thousands of times...and thousands of times, this little phone jacket has protected my phone. I have become attached to my phone case because without it my phone would be toast! It would have smashed many times over - sure I pay for insurance but this is about keeping what I've got, right? I mean, don't we all like to protect our stuff? Well, I happen to feel that this jacket for my Blackberry Pearl is a non-negotiable for carrying this phone! It is a solid investment to have a case for my phone (and yours, too).

...this story continues...

I went to the park a few days ago (coming soon to the blog...stories of people) and came across this girl running in the park. She had a large jogging stroller and two little kids with her. A double-take would confirm that this was my wife and our two little ones. So, I decided to "cut them off at the pass" and meet up with them...before sitting on a park bench to do some writing. We visited, we laughed at the surprise showing for all of us - and Olivia, Wyatt, & Boone strolled on as I went to sit at a bench by the creek. After writing a little while....it was time to go home. I left. I went to use my phone and realized there was no phone case...just my naked phone. This felt odd - like I was missing something. When this happens, something weird on the inside goes on...it's like all these chemicals release in my brain that says to me, "you can't leave without your phone jacket", "you must find this thing of SIGNIFICANCE!!" So, I looked for my little black jacket. It was not in my bag with books and a journal. It was not on the walk way at the park. It was not on the park bench. It was not in my car. I began sweating....and getting impatient. Then, I had to go home - I was defeated, weakened and mentally beat up.....all over my little black phone case!

I began thinking a little more about this...you know when I tell a story like this and people give me the look (perhaps about like the one you have in your mind reading about this ridiculous story) that says, what is the big deal on something so insignificant??!! Well, exactly, what IS the big deal? I wondered....and I considered...so, I figured I would just move on without my phone jacket....and life would be fine. Then, one morning before an early AM breakfast with some high school guys that I spend time with as a Young Life leader, I had the thought of "significance in the eyes of the Lord". And then, it hit me!

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins^[a] and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

¹³"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.^[b]'

²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

"The Father....He's so very fond of me..."

- Brennan Manning; story in his books telling of an individual's thoughts of God's infinite love, mercy and grace for him.

(in these photos...I felt it shows a father's love to his children...it reminds me of He who is always loving me - always having me on His mind....and, you, too.)

The thing about these parables that Jesus Christ is telling is that we have a God who pursues us...He overturns things to search us and He waits on His tippy-toes to see us in the horizon....He will not stop loving us, He will not stop pursuing us - he is a Chaser! Even if we feel like we are not worth searching for...like we are insignificant to those around us, like we are meaningless and not of value - we have a God who cares to know us on an eternal scale in a manner that is infinitely greater than we can fathom! And....we matter to Him! It is as if we are the lost phone jacket - if we do not know Jesus as our Savior and have a relationship with the Living God, we aren't just a lost phone case in the park...we are THE SIGNIFICANCE in the eyes of the Lord. You and I were made in His Image and are the joy of Him. He can't not search for you and me - He can not "not" love us....LOVE is His nature....to pursue you and me IS the business of God!

May we, somehow, never forget to remember His infinite love....that we are His creation and He is crazy about His children.

Who would think that a day in the park would reveal another route of God's love? I think it is probably telling of a little more than my compulsiveness; that it is a revealing of a love story....that God is in the midst of everything...He is in the park, He is in morning, He is in the car ride home, He is in ALL, period.

May we consider His love.

-ao