I often say that it is truly the great adventure of knowing God. And so it has been over the last two months. I’ve spoken at three retreats and conferences, filmed 15 messages on location in Idyllwild, California, and I’m immersed in my 20th book, Quiet Time Moments For Women, a devotional book filled with nuggets from God’s Word. And yet, I’ve got to let you in on a secret—I’m not tired. The Lord has given me extra energy and wisdom to do what He’s called me to do and I’m thanking Him with all my heart!! I want to share some of the highlights from my adventures over the last month. There are so many and I wish I could share ALL my pictures. For now, here are just a few. Meet Valerie, one of the most amazing, on fire for the Lord Christians I’ve ever met in my life. She went online to Christian Book Distributors looking for a book on prayer. Guess what book she found—the 30 day journey of Passionate Prayer. When she showed me her book, I almost fell over. If you’ve ever read any of the 30 day journeys, then you know that I always encourage others to dialogue and interact with each day of reading. Well, let me tell you—Valerie knows how to do exactly that.
Look at one of the pages in her Passionate Prayer - 30 Day Journey book. Every page was like this! I was just blown away. In fact, I was so thrilled with how she reads a book that I took numerous pictures for others to see. What you see here, my friends, is a heart for the Lord. Here is a woman that I was privileged to spend time with for a weekend at the Carlsbad Community Church Women’s Retreat. Valerie isn’t even from that church. After she read the book, she looked in the back, found our phone number and called our office. She found out about the retreat and was able to attend. Be encouraged by her. If we all followed her example, I think there might be a fire of revival that would spread everywhere.
Then, I had the unique opportunity to teach at the Shiloh Community Church Women’s Retreat held at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ. What an amazing location for a retreat. I intend to return and spend some good time alone with the Lord—just drawing near to Him and soaking in His Word. The Shiloh retreat was a smaller group and we had some great one-on-one time - the Franciscan Renewal Center was a perfect location for our time together. We shared on what it means to trust God and I talked about God’s names. I met some wonderful women and even met a friend from Campus Crusade days at Arizona State University. As a matter of fact, here’s a great story. I often talk about how the director at ASU CCC, Elmer Lappen, one evening asked us all for memory verses. He looked right at me and said, “Cath, let’s start with you. Give us a verse by memory.” Well, I hadn’t memorized any verses. So I quickly said, “John 11:35 Jesus wept.” Well, everyone laughed. Everyone, that is, except for Elmer. Elmer looked me right in the eyes and said, “Cath, ALWAYS be prepared to make a defense for the hope that is in you.” I learned a big lesson there. I went home and memorized the longest verse I could find in the Bible. The next time he asked for verses, I quoted mine, he smiled and said, “Cath, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that one before.”
Why would I share this story? Because when I shared it at the Shiloh retreat, a girl came up to me afterwards and said, “Catherine, I was there. I remember how funny that was.” I got tears in my eyes because it was a tangible confirmation of how the Lord has worked in my life. What a beautiful moment to meet her and be reminded that the Lord who was with me then is with me now. To God be the glory.
The following weekend my husband and I made the trek up to Idyllwild, CA with all our filming equipment. We spent four long days filming in between street paving, buzz saws, barking dogs, burglar alarms sounding, and squirrels dropping tree branches on my head during the filming. The squirrels had personalities all their own. At one point, WHILE I was speaking on camera, a squirrel leaped at me, almost landing on my shoulder, and then ran the other direction. What did I do? I kept on going. It was a very productive film shoot. And once the footage is edited, we will have new high definition messages for DVD and the internet soon for two different books I’ve written.
The next weekend, I was privileged to speak to 200 women in Los Angeles at a women’s brunch. I shared about A Woman’s Heart That Dances and taught how to have a quiet time. Afterwards, many women came up to me and shared how much they had longed to know how to spend time with God. And now, they couldn’t wait to get started. When I hear such amazing responses, I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to share simple, yet effective, principles of quiet time and intimacy with God. I love telling others about the great adventure of knowing God.
What an adventure with the Lord! And the best is yet to come. As the psalmist has said, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You! (Psalm 84:10-12). Right now I’m writing my 20th book. Can you believe it! And I’m planning for 2010 and beyond. The Lord is planting a big idea in my heart – I’ll share more later, but I’m working on it as we speak. I’ve been studying in Isaiah these days and we’ve just begun a new study of Passionate Prayer – A Quiet Time Experience. If you’d like to join us in Passionate Prayer, just order a book and then connect with me online at Cath’s Community and share your insights at the Passionate Prayer blog. We also have a forum at the Quiet Time Café dedicated to this study.
Have a great day and I’ll share more soon.