Feb
26
Written by:
host
2/26/2010 7:00 AM
As Christians we are called to live in community. Ours is a relational faith. As a faith community, we nurture and support one another and together we are the “body of Christ”. Last weekend, ten women gathered together in central Iowa for the Different Voice Women’s Retreat. For one weekend, we were the body of Christ for one another – a community of women who took time for ourselves and together were renewed physically and spiritually. It was a Spirit-filled weekend. One of the wonderful things about the experience was the gifts we gave to each other; gifts that can only be given and received when we live together in community.
Listening – To truly listen to another person is one of the greatest gifts that a person can give to someone else. Everyone has a unique story to tell. As each person shared her story during the weekend, other women listened. We did not attempt to fix things, or compare her story to ours; we simply listened, accepted the gift of her story and thanked her for sharing. Who could you listen to this weekend?
Encouragement – In his book, Touching the Holy, Robert J. Wicks notes, “Encouragement is a gift that should be treasured in today’s stressful, anxious, complex world because the seeds of involvement and the seeds of burnout are the same.” Too often, we get caught up in our own lives and do not take the time to encourage one another. Following an activity during which we wrote encouraging words to one another, one woman remarked, “This makes me sound a lot better than I think I am!” Several others responded at the same time, “That’s the point!” Who could use the gift of your encouragement this weekend?
Laughter – Yes, technically, you don’t need to be in community to experience laughter. But there is something special, refreshing and unifying about laughing together. We laughed. We laughed some more. We laughed a lot. Sometimes we laughed so hard it brought tears to some eyes. Laughing is good exercise for the body and the soul. Who can you laugh with this weekend?
Receiving the gifts of listening, encouragement and laughter all in one weekend – priceless.
~Sally Hoelscher
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