Suzie

Personal retreat

Father God, I just want to thank you for the amazing time that I had at Penhurst and Crowhurst. I just want to thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit that was present in abundance, feeling the Holy Spirit in abundance was a very emotional thing for me, thank you Father. I thank you for the time of fellowship that we all had during mealtimes, for all the sharing with Mavis B and Jane in the comfortable lounge. Father I thank you for the safe journey to and from the retreat and for the new friendship I formed with Mavis B. Father I continue to lift Mavis into your arms, I pray that you will continue to remove the debris from her lungs via coughing, the debris that was left from a very badly performed operation, to replace her pacemaker. Father I lift her into your arms and ask that her health remains strong and that the breathlessness will subside in time. Father this woman does an amazing amount of work in the community, despite her age, thank you Father for the piece that you have already removed from her lungs yesterday, thank you for answering my prayer. Father thank you for using me to help others. Father I was surprised that you told Mavis what you had asked me to do, there wasn't a need for her to say thank you, as it was done in your name and out of love for you, but Father it helped me to know some of the things you wanted me to realise, wow u truly are awesome God. Father I would also like to lift Beryl into your loving arms, Father I pray that her pain is always manageable, that she will always be able to put on her supports with out help. Father I ask for your guidance from the Holy Spirit, for her to know what it is you desire her to do, especially now that she can no longer drive and has to rely on others and public transport to do the caring work in her elderly community, Father I pray that you will indeed give her good clear guidance at this time. Father I also want to lift Jane up into your hands, I pray that you continue to place people around her to give her the love and support she needs. It lifts your heart to see you in her, especially after losing her husband so soon after being married followed quickly by her Father. Father I lift Mavis S into your arms and ask that you give her the strength and comfort she needs to continually care for her husband who has had a stroke. Lord I pray that she will be surrounded by love and support. Father the two Mavis and Beryl are well into the 70's, so I would just like to pray that they continue to be renewed by the love that you have for them. Thank you Father for the work that you are doing in the lives of the people that they are helping. Thank you for Mavis B who works with very troubled families in one of the roughest parts of London, Father I pray for your continued protection to be on Mavis B, Mavis S, Jane and Beryl. I pray all this in Jesus most precious name, AMEN

Wow, words cannot explain the awe of being in God's presence, what a lovely retreat, peace was in abundance, it turned out to be a very revealing retreat in many ways, The presence of God was so strong totally overwhelming. The Holy Spirit did amazing things. No telly, no radio, no computers, no newspapers, a hidden telephone, and no clocks. Big comfy chairs low to the ground, high comfy beds. Lovely food prepared and cooked fresh every day. A proper sense of community. The four other guests were so different, 2 x Mavis (friends who had come together)and Beryl (all these ladies are over 70) and Jane (who is about 40). Beryl had so many stories to tell, as did the two Mavis's. They talked about the slave trade. Government issues, one of the Mavis works tirelessly for her local community in the ghetto of London. Both Mavis are Afro-Caribbean and came to England in the 50's. They had some funny stories and some sad stories, of the empire and then of ignorant people. I went there to pray and read and thats what I did. I visited the Church which was in the gardens of Penhurst, a small, old character Church. I would defenitely like to go back. Thank you Lord for loving and caring for us so much. xx

posted by suzie @ 12:56 PM