Have you ever wondered why it is called a “retreat”? To retreat means to go backwards, to step back from the competition, the race, the fight. No, no, just the opposite we want to happen – we should be calling it, “Move Forward!” or “Go Get ‘Em!” Well, culture has claimed the term for these occasions, so we will stick with it. Regardless, I ask you to come with us on this adventure to Asheville, NC to experience the Beauty, the Love, and the Adventure God has called us into as His children. He wants us to move forward, to advance in His world, even if it means taking on the cold, the strange food, and the weekend away from home. For the Uncomfortable in our world is the Comfortable in His, and you have to believe Him for it to be true.

So, what move will you make? Will you stay seated the weekend of November 5^th and not reach out for the Adventure lying ahead? Or will you say “Yes” to the uncomfortable in order to experience Life, true Life, that we at Good Shepherd believe is Beyond Belief. Just come and wait and see, and you won’t be retreating, but instead Treated to His goodness.

-Conor

It's that simple, and yet it's really difficult at the same time. Like tying knots I guess, when you first get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake, but there are times when you start to loose focus, and it falls apart on you. Or you loose faith in yourself, and pretty soon you're throwing things and declaring that you will never again tie a knot in your life.

Well, faith can be that easy and that hard. It requires of you and me a focus on the One who can make all things happen if we simply trust Him. It's easy at times to open our eyes and SEE Him in our lives, blessing us with the simple things, the obvious things, the things we take way too much for granted. And then there's this BELIEF we need to hold onto when something we've asked Him for and expected has not happened yet. "God? You out there?" you ask as you wait weeks upon weeks for an answer to a regular prayer. Well, if He answered them all right away, then why would we ever have to trust Him? 

We rely on our Father, for the seen and the unseen. Are you resting on the Truth that if we seek Him first, then ALL things will be given to us as well (Matthew 6:33)? Ask Him, trust Him to fulfill your every need, as long as you live in between the two circles of seeing Him move and believing He will move. It's a beautiful thing, this concentric circle idea, that LIFE exists in the middle of the two. Will you see Him today? Will you believe?