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Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

Jumping Tandem The Retreat

Praying the Silent Amen

April 26, 2013 By Michelle

“I’ve prayed more in one weekend than I think I have in the whole last month altogether,” I blurt as we sit around the campfire, grey smoke and starless night wrapping our faces in darkness. I mean it as a compliment. One of the details that set the Jumping Tandem Retreat apart from so many others I’ve attended is the prayer, woven like a gossamer thread throughout the entire weekend, tying us together with the word-breath of the Holy Spirit.

That said, when Emily suggests in our hotel room early on Saturday morning that we pray together before our sessions, I utter “Okay!” a little too shrilly as I whirl around to face her. She glimpses my wild eyes before I can hide my fear. “Or I could just pray for us,” she offers in a voice delicate as a butterfly’s wing.

So we sit on the edge of her bed and we pray amid wrinkled sheets and rumpled blankets as the radiator whirs hot air. Emily lifts our heart’s desires to Heaven, praying that the Holy Spirit will speak through us; that the women in our sessions will be filled with God and love and hope; that our voices will stay strong and steady.

Surrounded by all these prayer warriors makes me feel inadequate at first. Not just Emily, but Jennifer, Glenda, Nasreen, Deidra, Sandy, Holley, Lisa-Jo, Helen – eloquent, graceful, grace-filled pray-ers, every one of them. My palms sweat as we stand in a circle, holding hands on the first evening. I’m praying I won’t have to pray out loud.

“I’m not much of a pray-er out-loud-er,” I confess on our last night, as we gather in the small sitting area to encourage Jennifer before her keynote address. But as I bow my head, nodding and murmuring here and there as others offer their gratitude and praise, I realize it’s okay. There is room for all kinds here – the vocal praise, the murmur, the quiet nod.

It’s not how we pray that matters, or even how articulate or inarticulate we are, but simply the offering itself. No matter how it’s conveyed, in groans or poetry, shouts or whispers, a word of praise or a plea for help always reaches God’s ears.

And for that, I lift up my own silent Amen.

How comfortable are you praying aloud in a group? If the thought of it makes you wiggy (like me), do you have any advice to offer that’s helped you in the past? 

* Photo of hands grasped in prayer by Laura Boggess.

Filed Under: Jumping Tandem The Retreat, Prayer, speaking Tagged With: Jumping Tandem Retreat, when you're afraid to pray aloud in a group

It’s Time to Make that Dream a Reality (Yeah, I’m Talking to You!}

September 19, 2012 By Michelle

Writers-3290Some of us talk the big talk about changing our lives, or pursuing our dreams or doing something new…and then we stagnate month after month or year after year.
 
Some of us even whine from time to time (ahem), about how we can’t go after what we want because it’s too hard or too tiring or too complicated or too overwhelming or too daunting or too ___________ [fill in the blank with your favorite excuse…the ones listed here are all mine].

But some of us? Some of us [like the super-awesome go-getter Deidra Riggs] talk for a little while about it [and maybe hyperventilate just a tiny bit]…and then they make it happen.

I remember the day a couple of years ago when Deidra said, “You know, I think we need a retreat right here in Nebraska.”

I nodded my head, all enthusiastic.

“Oh yeah, totally, we need that, we do.” {thinking to myself, “Yeah, you get on that, woman”}. And then, of course, I didn’t give it a second thought.

But that was the day Deidra started planning, envisioning and strategizing. That was the day Deidra started dreaming.

She got on it, all right.

This coming April 19-21 that dream becomes reality, with the launch of the first annual Jumping Tandem: The Retreat, hosted by Deidra Riggs right here in beautiful Nebraska! And this retreat? It’s all about pursuing your Big, Amazing Ridiculous Dream. Not just the dreamy-dream part, but the practical, how-to part, too (which really, really appeals to this pragmatic girl!).

Early bird registration officially opens October 1, but pop over here for a sneak-peek and a few more details. And start dreaming about visiting Nebraska…and taking one small step toward making your God-given dream a reality.

Picture of Deidra by Curt Brinkmann of Life’s A Story photography.


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Filed Under: Deidra Riggs, dream, Jumping Tandem The Retreat

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Triple Type A, “make it happen” (my dad’s favorite mantra) striver and achiever (I’m a 3 on the Enneagram, which tells you everything you need to know), but these days my striving looks more like sitting in silence on a park bench, my dog at my feet, as I slowly learn to let go of the false selves that have formed my identity for decades and lean toward uncovering who God created me to be.

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