Walk to Emmaus

While I was at IWU, my dear friend and mentor, Amy, told me about the Walk to Emmaus. It is a three day retreat focused on spending time in the presence of the Lord, reading His word, learning with the Body, and growing as disciple of Christ. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention because it wasn't something that was planning to take part in any time soon. I was growing in faith and my relationship to the Lord was progressing, but I wasn't ready for Emmaus yet. Thankfully, God has grown me enough in the past few years to prepare me for the Walk to Emmaus. I was blessed beyond words.

I heard about the opportunity at church and felt a tug in heart to ask someone about it. When I finally got the gumption up to ask, I was answered with, "Oh good, I was thinking about you for this, yes, I will arrange for you to have a sponsor." This was confirmation to me that the Lord wanted me to experience this 'Walk.' I thought,"The Lord must have some specific lesson He wants to teach me or something He wants to tell me. I will open my ears, heart, and mind to what God wants to speak into my life." Little did I expect that He wanted to say, "Sara! I Love You!!" Through out the entire weekend, I felt the Love of God in an overwhelming way.

A few weeks back I was thinking to myself, "If there are certain ways that each of us feel loved and they are physical things, how can God, being Spirit, physically intervene in my life to show me the kind of Love that speaks directly to my heart?" (Never mind that God created my heart!! And gave His Son for my life!) Anyway, these were my thoughts. Well, I know that God knows my thoughts and He knows what I need before I even pray, so He answered me via the Walk to Emmaus, before I even presented this question to Him. The two things that speak love into my life are quality time and gifts. I don't need tons of time with the people I love, I just like it to be real, authentic, quality time. Likewise, huge, expensive gifts are not my thing, it's the small heartfelt things that mean so much, like a note, a book, music, or a picture that has significance between myself and the giver.

The entire three days was spent as quality time with my Lord and Savior, the Lover of my soul. I felt the presence of Jesus in a real and personal way throughout the entire time. Especially during a specific prayer time with my group of fellow Emmaus pilgrims. At one point, I looked up and expected to see Jesus standing in the doorway because I knew He was there. And the other way God showed is love for me....you guessed it, small gifts. Everywhere I went, there were small gifts of encouragement waiting for me, I was blown away. At the end of the 'Walk' on Sunday afternoon, I received a small package of letters. This was the most precious gift of all. These letters were from many loved ones who were praying for me as I met with the Lord during the three days. I was overwhelmed with the love of Christ through those that wrote. (If you were one of them, Thank You!)

I did learn many things and my already burning passion for discipleship has grown even more. But most of all, I am thankful for the opportunity I had to experience the Love of God in this way in order to now reveal this Love to those around me.