Do you know that you are Loved?

There are a few words that have become attached to me over the past years. I cling to them, exhume them, and force them to come alive in my own life until they become a part of me. “Intentional” is definitely one of those words. Far too often people have good intentions. We all want to live our best life now. We want to lose a few pounds. We want to go back to school one day. We want to get our finances in order. We want to live and pursue our dreams. We all want to love and be loved by someone.

Yet we go through life completing the same routines every day. We eat the same stuff, read the same material, watch the same shows, and listen to the same voices (in our head and outside of it). We watch the days go by and let life happen to us. That’s a passive way of living, and it does not get us the results that we desire. If we truly want to live free, then we must intentionally make choices that put us on another life course. Spiritual retreats are great opportunities to pause and reflect, and then hit the reset button on life.

That’s why I am honored to lead the upcoming Wings Retreat: Women in God’s Scriptures at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Ridgecrest, North Carolina on April 7-9, 2017. The wonderful team at Women in the Scriptures have been hosting this retreat for the past few years. The retreat is available to all women, and it has often drawn groups from across the East Coast.

As I lead participants through the scriptures, Abby Sutton will be leading up in worship.

The theme for this year’s retreat is “Live Loved!” and our focused scripture is 1 Corinthians 16:14, “Do everything in love.”

Throughout the weekend I will share the scriptures while intentionally focusing on how God loves us, and how out of a grateful heart we are called to love him back. I am challenging the ladies to love others well and to teach others how to love them back. Finally, we will explore the Word of God together to consider what it means to live as disciples who make disciples.

Each of us are called to Know and Love God, to affirm our identity in Christ Jesus, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is an intentional commitment to Christian theology and community building. True Christianity is about right thinking, yielding our own will to God’s right standards and will for his entire creation. Then it is about Christian ethnics, or taking the right actions in this world as a result of the knowledge we have gained.

Christianity is a relational faith. It causes us to respond rightly towards God, and towards other people. Living this way is what it truly means to be a disciple, a true follower of Christ.

God is love. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Because of this love, we can enter into loving relationships with others.

Do you know that you are loved? Will you consider joining me at the retreat this spring? Will you bring your daughter, your Bible study or small group, any or all of your mentees, and maybe some girlfriends? Registration for this retreat ends on March 3, 2017. Details for registration can be found at my official website.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love and blessings, Natasha