Blessed, Grateful and Restored

Rosemary

       My heart is full. We have just completed our last RESTORE retreat for this year. It was a beautiful weekend of worship and time in the Word as we studied the Father's heart for  restoration, transformation and surrender in our lives. Jesus has been so faithful to carry us through the many challenges we have faced and He has met our every need. I have been amazed at the work that He has done in my own life personally through this journey and in the lives of those women who have invested their time for a weekend to retreat with us. The blessings have been rich. We have come to discover that it is a rare woman who is willing and able to take a weekend to pull away and spend extended time with the Lord. Each weekend has had it’s own unique mix of women whom God has chosen and appointed to restore and renew in their calling. 

        We have noticed that most of the women He has brought have long and rich histories with the Lord and have served Him faithfully for years. By the power of God's Spirit each retreat has brought beautiful women to sit at the feet of Jesus and humbly listen to God's Word, spend hours in prayer and silence and solitude, speak words of encouragement to one another and respond in worship. We've laughed and cried together. Each retreat women came in need of rest, longing to be poured into, soaked up His life and presence and left changed, refreshed in Jesus and ready to embrace the Masterpiece He created them to be. It has been beautiful and a privilege to be a part of the journey.

               We are simply His vessels seeking to provide a place of worship for Father 
                                                               to do His kingdom work. 

       There are a sea of faces who come to my mind as I think back on the last year and a half of this series of Restore retreats. There are those who prayed for us throughout the course, faithful warriors doing battle in the heavenly realms so that His truth would go forth, lifting us before the throne. I'm grateful in ways you can never imagine.There are those who worked behind the scenes in our homes and at the Chapel, building brochures,  formatting the handmade journals and helping with the special touches that made the women who came feel especially loved. There are those who helped physically - loading materials, cooking, putting together gift bags, helping to make it all a beautiful oasis for His glory. You know who you are and your sacrifices brought tremendous blessing to many.

        Of course, we are so grateful for our husbands who prayed and persevered through countless hours of preparation and planning and loved and supported us for the weekends away from home and all the months in between. The list goes on, the faces shine before me. It takes many helping hands to put these types of events together and God supplied our every need. I’m so very grateful for my dear friend Sherry, whose gentle nudging encouraged me to press on through some very difficult seasons personally in my life. It’s been such fun to see the Father work out His purpose and plan in our lives. He has carried us in our weakness and poured out His abundance over us.  He's sustained us, shown Himself  faithful and blessed us beyond measure with His love and grace through it all. Our personalities and gifts are so very different. I think the Lord smiles at that!

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Often through the years when I have wanted to say thank you and remember someone who has deeply touched my life and faith journey I have brought them a rosemary plant. 


Rosemary is the herb of remembrance and fidelity.


Its strong fragrance lingers in the air and on your skin when you touch it. It is a reminder to me of how those who carry the fragrance of Christ continue to bless our lives. 
The fragrance of their friendship, the aroma of Christ's love and encouragement through them lingers. 
I often attach the My Beloved letter found below to the rosemary gift, a Word from the Father 
to encourage and bless.

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So I wanted to bless you all today with this letter from the Father’s Words of love.
 You have blessed our lives by choosing to read our Monday Musings blogs and I know many of you pray for Restore Ministries often. I wish I could drop off a rosemary plant with this My Beloved letter attached on all of your doorsteps!

      I pray that you will experience the sweet aroma of Christ in your life in the days ahead.

My Beloved


  No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
 no mind has conceived what I have prepared for you because you love Me, but I will reveal it to you by My Spirit. The Spirit of God within you will search all things, even the deep things of God. My Spirit will guide you into all truth and bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine
 and making it known to you.

My dear one, do you need wisdom and guidance today? Meditate on my Word all day long. 
My Word is eternal; 
it stands firm in the heavens.



 Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. My Word will be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. 

I am leading you in triumphal procession in My Son 
and spreading everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus. 
You are to Me the aroma of Christ among those
 who are being saved and those who are lost.

Put your trust in Me for I am your Refuge and your Fortress. I have seen your love for Me and I will rescue you and protect you for you acknowledge My name. So do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to Me. 
And My peace, which transcends understanding, will stand guard over your heart and your mind.

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I have come to offer you living water so that you will never be thirsty again.
 Drink of Me and I will give you water that will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

 Trust in Me and don’t be afraid.
 I am the Lord, your strength and your song. 
Draw from the well of My salvation with joy! 

I will give you refuge in the shadow of My wings. Come, feast on the abundance of My house;
 drink from My river of delights.
 For with Me is the fountain of life;
 in My light you will see light.

      Rejoice for I will show you the path of life.
 You will know the fullness of joy in my presence. Follow me and I will lead you 
to the Highway of Holiness. 
There you will rejoice with singing and an everlasting crown of joy will rest upon your head.

1 Cor. 2:9, 10, John 16:13-15, Phil. 14:8, Psalm 119:97, 89, 105, 2 Cor. 2:14, 15,  Psalm 91:2, 14, Phil. 6:6, 7, Isaiah 12:2,                             3, Psalm 36:7-9, Psalm 16:11, Isaiah 35:8, 10
   NIV Bible

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Blessed, grateful and restored in Him,
Kathy

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