Giving Birth

This past weekend Kay McGlinchey and I lead a retreat for women at Camp Christian. In the summer we came up with our theme - "O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Be Born in Us Today."

I have done Advent retreats for women for at least 10 years and I am always blessed by doing them personally. I used to do morning retreats - often at a friends home. Since I have been in Columbus we have done a day away at Camp - from 9 to 3. This time we added an optional evening before at camp. Eight of us came early and it was very nice. We were able t
o set up the retreat and spend time in front of the fire relaxing and play games. We will continue to offer this for the next retreat (in Lent - March 8th) and advertise it as a "slumber party." I was really happy that Kacey came for the first time. I wanted her to be part of something that I have been doing and I wanted to see this kind of thing through her eyes.

Our retreat about "Giving Birth" was a Birth! We shared the birth narratives from Luke - Chapter 1 and talked about the stages of giving birth that Mary went through and that we all went through - anxiety, pain, loss, surprise, joy, God sightings, and companions. And all of that happened during this process. Both Kay and I bring different gifts and resources to doing something like thi together and we both plan and both are open to changing plans at the moment, so it is really wonderful for me to work with a partner like this. She had this idea for a craft that I wondered about - but it really worked well. In the afternoon each woman (and we had 40 of all ages!) took a piece of crayola modeling clay and in silence (!) formed whatever God directed us to form. Afterwards we placed them on tables around the altar and then some women shared during worship. It was awesome - more than I could imagine.

She also gave us some prayers to share with the women.
I love this one:

O Blessing God,
I am immersed in your story
I am Mary and Elizabeth
I am prophet and singer
Old mother, fetus and angel,
And I know you,
You enter a woman and through her
You enter the human hearts
of all who eat the fruit of her womb.
You come to those who cannot trust
their own strength to live
You find your way to me
through my most vulnerable need

O Blessing God,
May the sound of greeting this day
Cause the child within me
To leap with expectation,
And, as I ponder why I should be so honored by your gift,
Leap forth with joy from the ocean of joy within
Incarnate me to be your improbably gift of blessing
To another
For you have believed in me
That I might bring to completion
Your promise of radical love
to the whole world.
Amen.

I read this aloud to the group and we shared what spoke to us and I realized how powerful this was. Speaking about our God who comes to us through our most vulnerable need and promises us radical love.

I am still in awe of what happened that day. BUT it is Monday and since then I experienced 2 other "birth experiences" - Sunday worship and an awesome Holiday Praise Concert last night.
I have trouble sleeping when I am anxious about events like this and THEN I have trouble sleeping afterwards as I ponder in true amazement how it all comes together and was more than I could have ever imagined.

So, thanks be to God who works through me and through us to help create experiences that give renewal and change lives.
Amen.