God Works with Detours by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

            We just wrapped up our fourth annual college women’s retreat.  The theme: God’s GPS:  Maneuvering Your Way Through Life’s Detours.

            From the beginning we lived out the theme.  The day before the retreat, we learned the school had double booked the conference room we were going to use so we were rerouted to another venue.  I held out hope the new room was just as nice, but my frustration began.

            The retreat team meets about eight hours before the retreat starts to get things prepared but the day our portion of the team left to go to the retreat we headed out a bit late.  It’s tough to get four girly girls out the door.  We have makeup to do, then there are curlers and flat irons to battle with so we can attempt to have frizz-free hair.  The beautifying process takes more time the older you get! 

            Then there’s the issue of getting all that luggage into a smaller vehicle.  It was like wedging a size 10 foot into a size 6 shoe. Once we were able to close the back of the car, we feared ever opening it up again.  It was vacuum packed.

            Besides the Lord, our team has something else in common.  We must have caffeine before we function as humans, so we searched for a Starbucks.  After a number of wrong turns and about 30 minutes later, we finally found one.  True to the retreat theme, the day was already starting with delays and detours.

            By the time we made it to my old college, we were an hour late to start working on the event and my usual even keeled temperament was off the mark.  As a leader, you want to set a good example by being close to on time and I was not even in the ball park.  One team member commented, “Lisa, I am noticing you are a little more on edge than usual.”  It was because the GPS was not navigating the way I wanted it to and I was not in control.  I did not want to admit it but I knew God was working on me.

            When I saw our new venue, I almost cried.  It looked like a science lab, not a conference room and the college science lab was not a good memory!  I wasn’t sure how we could convert the room into a warm, inviting, retreat location, but if anyone could do it, our decor team could.

            When our amazing artsy crafty team members finished decorating the room, it was unbelievable!  The tables had converted to roads.  There were traffic signs posted all over the walls and even though the room was still a little cramped, the decor gave me hope that the women would appreciate the venue and would see it as fun, warm and inviting.

            There were numerous other roadblocks and detours.  Why not? It was our theme, but as we maneuvered our way through this year’s retreat, I realized the room has nothing to do with what God’s spirit does in a place.  He can work anywhere.

             At one point during the event, I was reminded that God no longer resides in the confines of a building.  He lives in our hearts, and through our worship, the messages and our interaction, God’s spirit and love were flowing through our hearts to the women.  It didn’t matter what the room looked like.  God was with us and worked through us and the women at the retreat felt his presence.

            After the retreat, the team had its usual wrap up meeting and we sat together tired, but amazed by the way God worked and all the mighty deeds he did in the room I thought was not good enough. For this year’s retreat, it was perfect and I realized God can work in any venue.  He just needs a willing vessel to work through.