I've been looking forward to this particular retreat for quite some time. Even more so when I had a pretty rough week last week. My grandma suffered from a massive stroke, and was in intensive care for a few days. She is now moved to a regular room in the hospital, but is still in pretty critical condition.
I was pretty torn up about the situation the first day. I never really had a great relationship with my grandmother. I know she has expressed her love for me, but I haven't really been the greatest granddaughter to her. I easily get frustrated and annoyed with things she does and says, so I would try my hardest to ignore her sometimes. Not one of my proudest moments.
I knew one day would come when her health would decline, but I didn't think it would be so soon. True, she is 88 years old, but I had just talked on the phone with my mom earlier that day and everything with my grandmother was normal.
Anyway, I was pretty upset about what had happened mainly because I haven't treated my grandmother like I should have, and I felt like I needed to be at the hospital for my family. However, I didn't want to be at the hospital because I hate seeing people helpless like that. I hate seeing people suffer. So, I prayed for comfort and understanding for a few days. I also struggled with either going to the beach with InterVarsity (which I had looked forward to) or to go home and spend an emotional weekend at the hospital. Since I absolutely love my InterVarsity chapter (we're practically like family), I opted for Beach Retreat. Let me just say that this was a wise decision.
God spoke to me in several ways this weekend. One in particular (and one that stood out to me the most), was during my quiet time this morning. The weather was beautiful outside, so I decided to spend my quiet time sitting in the sand on the beach. I read the suggested material for quiet time, reflected, prayed and wrote a little in my notebook. I had some extra time before the next activity, so I started reading one of my favorite passages Isaiah 43. There was practically no wind, which is unusual at the beach. All of a sudden a little gust of wind came and flipped my bible over a few pages to Isaiah 40. I saw the heading "Comfort for God's People" and thought 'maybe God wants me to read this.' So I did. Verses 28-31 says:
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
This passage definitely gave me comfort and strength... exactly what I've been praying for since last week. I was so excited about these verses that I shared them with my small group and again with the rest of the InterVarsity people during "Share Time." We then closed our worship by singing "Everlasting God," which is based off of this passage of Scripture.
Even though my grandma still isn't in great health, I know that no matter what happens God will give me strength to face the outcome.
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