Retreat

"When the music fades, and all is stripped away, and I simply come..."

Next week I am going on a week long retreat in Pennsylvania to minister praise and worship with a group that I am part of (Team Matt T.!). At first, I was consumed with the fact that I will be away from work for a WHOLE WEEK and able to chill with a group of friends who literally double as my second family (love those guys).

Now, let's rewind - Earlier this week, I was chatting with the mister about some things that have been troubling me and he encouraged me to RETREAT during the RETREAT! I don't know why, but that hit me pretty hard as I realized that the time away is going to be more than a mere vacation, but time to really seek God and spend time in His presence.

I plan on challenging myself spiritually on this retreat. As a praise and worship singer, most of the time when I worship, it's through song. This is definitely great, however, I want to seek God in a new way. I want the music to be gone and I want to communicate my heart's deepest desires by simply talking to God.

I did my devotions yesterday and today on a passage of scripture that really encouraged me (and I hope it encourages you too) - Psalms 116:1-2 "I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live."
God WANTS to hear our voice, He WANTS to know our hearts desires, He is WAITING to hear what we have to say. As a result, I'm going to pour my heart to Him!

I say all of this to encourage you to spend time with God. You don't need to go on a retreat to actually retreat from your every day life and seek God. Turn your phone off, seperate yourself from the internet, or anything else that can serve as a distraction, and spend time in God's word and in His presence.

=)