Finding Real Refreshment in God's Living Water

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Over the past year, I've had the opportunity to be a part of the Refreshed Mom's team. The culmination of a year of networking, encouraging fellow moms, and sharing Apologia‘s vision of refreshing moms was the Real Refreshment Retreat. This year, the retreats were located in Atlanta and Baltimore.

I attended my first Real Refreshment Retreat two years ago in Atlanta and this year was all the more amazing. I almost didn't get to go. Josiah wasn't sleeping well and had never been away from me overnight. I found myself growing increasingly frustrated and exhausted. I hadn't slept more than 2-3 hours straight in almost a year. Yes, a year. I needed a break. I needed sleep. One night. Just one night of sleep is all I really desired.

After much prayer and discussion with Josh, we knew I needed this time away. I needed to be refreshed. So, early in March, I journeyed to Baltimore to gather with homeschooling moms and seek God. I experienced God's perfect timing and God's real refreshment that weekend.

My Journey to Real Refreshment

I was so excited to share a room with my friend Rebecca from Mom's Mustard Seeds. Sadly, days before the retreat, Rebecca's mother-in-law passed and Rebecca was not able to attended. I was devastated. I was so looking forward to spending that weekend with Rebecca, but God knew in advance what the weekend held for me. I needed that space to be alone, and God prepared that space for me.

Josh and I had been praying for a while for a door to open for us to move back closer to family in California. We had begun taking steps to prepare our house and ourselves to move across the country, but we didn't know how or when that relocation would happen. As we were transitioning into lunchtime, I received a phone call from Josh. He called to tell me that he had received a job offer in California. There I was, away from home, unable to take control of the situation, knowing that I'd be moving across the country in two weeks.

God's timing is perfect. He knew that I needed to be away to focus on Him that weekend. If I'd been at home, I would have been packing and running myself ragged. Instead, He had me in a place where I could seek Him without distraction, in a place where I could praise Him for His provision without distraction. He was giving me sleep and space to prepare my heart for this move where I didn't have the choice to start on the packing.

Highlights from Real Refreshment

I listened to Heather from Special Needs Homeschooling talk about homeschooling with illness, fatigue, and other trying circumstances. She talked about how tough times shape us into better tools for God to use. She said that intensity doesn't have to be chaos. Here I was facing a stressful situation that could easily turn into chaos. Heather's encouragement showed me that it was ok to take a break. Our homeschooling needed to look different during this next season in our family. I mentally prepared how we needed to step back from school for a bit as we prepared to move to California.

Rachael Carman led a raw look at people in the Bible who doubted. She shared about the dangers that creep in with doubt and what we can do to revive hope. The point that stood out to me was how doubt causes us to lose our focus. The remedy for that is to refocus and press forward. I'd become unfocused as I waited for God to open the door for us to move to California. I needed to bring my thoughts and my actions back into focus. I needed to press forward. Life continues on while you're waiting for the next thing. I needed to finish strong and finish well, but you can't do that when you're unfocused.

Anne MacCallum spoke for the first time in Baltimore. She's been leading worship at Real Refreshment Retreats for years, but she had never spoken before. She followed the theme of Living Water by talking about how the natural properties of water reveal the character of God. It's beyond amazing how water and thirst physically point us back to God spiritually. When I see my own thirst for God, I can see my kids' thirst and how to lead them to God's living water.

Parting Thoughts

Two things really stuck with me from the weekend. As I was riding the shuttle back to the airport, I looked down at my name tag:

Each of the ribbons attached to my name tag represent one of my children. Yeah, they are little, but they are growing so quickly. I want to be present in this season of motherhood. Each season will have it's trials and joys, but if I'm not fully present, I won't experience any of it. Are you fully present in your current season of life?

The second thought came from one of the songs that we sang:

The Word is what God uses to cleanse and renew me. If I'm not in the Word, I won't have anything to stand on. I won't have anything for my husband, or my child, or anyone else. Are you allowing God's Word, God's Living Water to be what sustains you in every season?