On the first night of the retreat I had a poster board with a "puzzle" like design redrawn on it. This was actually just a free hand sort of thing and you can create as many pieces as you need for the number of participants. As each person arrived that night, they signed in on a section of that poster. I also had three questions that they needed to answer. One thing that they wanted to get rid of on the weekend, one thing that they hoped to gain at the retreat and then one fact about themselves that no one at the retreat would already know. This poster was used as our "icebreaker". At the end of the evening I turned the poster over and put the poster out on the "art" table. The next day we created a group "collage" on that poster board, using all kind of media - markers, crayons, magazines, glue, pompoms, etc - that represented a bible verse that was our "key verse" for the day. Everyone did there own thing and then we all worked together to make it one meaningful poster. First of all, it is so much fun to see adults using all of these art supplies. And then it was wonderful to see these women being creative. As the afternoon session came to an end, I took a couple of minutes to recap what we had talked about during the day, as well as to take a closer look at the poster. There were lots of Bible verses scattered over the poster and many, many very meaningful pictures. Then I picked up a pair of scissors. I turned the poster over and began to cut apart the poster along the "puzzle" lines from the night before. Let me tell you this group of gals went nuts! One of them actually grabbed the scissors out of my hands! I got a lecture on destroying someone else's art work. But I continued to cut apart that poster. In the end, we each were left holding the piece that had our name and answers that we had written the night before. And then, you turned over your piece to see what part of the collage you had received. This was truly a God thing. It seemed as if each person got some answer to one of their responses. I remember that I had written what I hoped to gain - closer and deeper relationships and the part of the collage I received had a Bible verse about friendship and also the butterfly portion of a transformation part of the collage. I carried that verse around in my Bible for a very long time. Additionally, this was symbolic of us joining together for this weekend and then going our own ways. And it was our reminder that while we were individuals, together we were a powerful prayer group. So there you have it. I've done this project with kids several times. And they are never upset that I am cutting it apart. They usually get excited and can't wait to see what is happening. But I would urge caution if you try this with adults!
I want to affirm to all of you reading this blog that I am committed to telling the truth. I don't want you to ever question if something that I write is factual. You deserve the truth from me, and I know that Jesus wants the truth. Jesus IS the truth! He said of himself, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me". Since I have been doing this blog, I have been asking the Holy Spirit to remind me of any untruth that is in me. It is wonderful to know that even when something is revealed, Jesus has promised to remove this from me. I am so thankful tonight for the covenant promise that Jesus not only forgives our sins, but he REMOVES them from us. And with all of the compromise of the truth that is in our world today, I am glad that I am becoming so intolerant of the sin of lies. And I am also becoming more aware of the sin of "omission". You know what I mean don't you? The things that we don't say or do. When we don't want to tell the truth so we don't say anything at all. So, I will be listening to the Holy Spirit and continue to move toward total truth telling. And I encourage you to be open to truth telling. I love, love, love the image of the butterfly. That butterfly represents total reformation and transformation. There is nothing left of that ugly caterpillar that was dragging itself through the dirt. Instead, there is a free flying amazingly beautiful creature that captures your attention. Yep, I am so thankful that Yahweh is in the business of transforming us into His image.
Jesus, thank you for memories of fun and fellowship. And Holy Spirit, thank you for continuing the transformation process in my life. Jesus you are the truth and I am so grateful for your covenant promises. What a joy and blessing to know that you care about me. Amen
