God's Mountain Cabin

In prayerfully planning the 2016 Scarf Sister Reunion I felt that I was led to encourage us to focus on beauty.  That should be easy enough, right?  We were to be in a very beautiful part of the country during the autumn, a very beautiful time of year.  But as I thought more about it I was led to expand that idea to include personal beauty, the beauty in our sisters and of course, the beauty of the Lord. In preparation for our time together I asked that each sister spend some time with the Lord and bring one beauty product to share, as well as some thoughts on the beauty we see in each other and the beauty of the Lord to share in our devotional times.
We had a fun time experimenting with our beauty products and each of us were deeply touched by the encouraging words of the sisters and the beauty they see in us.  We also spent precious time in worship and in focusing on the beauty of our Lord, sharing Him together...which truly was food and drink for our spirits.
The sisters who attended have asked that I post the devotional I wrote for our time together focusing on the beauty of our Lord.

Ps. 27:4-6, to paraphrase...."One thing have I desired of the Lord...that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life...to behold the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in His temple, the temple of the Lord. His beauty is in His house, His temple...He is found there.  In times of trouble He can be found in His house and He shelters me there.  He lifts me up and fills me with joy and praise."

As I meditated on this thought I said to the Lord, "This is beautiful...but the temple of old no longer exists, you no longer dwell with men in a house built of stone.  Where can we find you now since Jesus came?"

Eph 2: 19-22 came to my mind...

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

		And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
		In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
		In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."    The NT interpretation of God's House is this..."members of God's household, built together with Jesus as the cornerstone".  I see our relationship as Scarf Sisters such as this; we once had blogging and scarves and aprons to bind us together along with Jesus.  Over time all that has fallen away and we only have Christ.  He has joined us together and though I wouldn't call our group "Church", I would suggest that we are a small out building...a shelter He has built.    A place of comfort in times of trouble, a place of rest and rejoicing.  A place we can always go to find Him.  His beauty can be seen in this shelter, this dwelling...in the faces and lives of our sisters.  Here we can cry out or be lifted up and filled with joy and praise just as in the temple of old. We do that for each other and He is the One who has given us this opportunity, this place, this shelter....we have been joined together in Him and by Him to be a dwelling for His Spirit. A rare blessing indeed!  His beauty can be seen in our love and care and support for one another and in our hearts for Him in this little dwelling He has made for Himself.  And perhaps He finds respite here as well.... Not a church or true house of God....more like a getaway place...a cabin in the mountains.... My deepest love and gratitude to each of you, my sisters...

the Scarf Sister Reunion of 2016

The Lord Met us … that is the way I feel about the Scarf Sister Reunion of 2016 … that at every turn, the Lord met us!

He provided safety for us all during the miles driven in Georgia … even though we knew of accidents and even saw accidents during our travels … like a flaming semi on the side of the road, as we were driving back to the airport, which had happened only minutes before we went by … 

This was my first time at a reunion.  I didn’t know what to expect at all … and I hadn’t met any of the Scarf Sisters attending - face to face … even though I had known most of them for 10 years through blogging … I was filled with excitement to be able to hug these precious ladies in real time!

Four of us flew in and literally landed within minutes of each other!  We met up with no difficulties at all … there were big hugs and complete recognition (we all do like to take pictures after all!) … so our trip began, as we had fun navigating the underground trains and overhead mono rails of America’s busiest airport to get our rented vehicle … those of us who flew were so in sync that it was as if (wink wink) God was our travel agent (of course HE was!) …

The flyers (Pat, Trish and Mrs. Mac and me) , decided to spend the night at a hotel close to the airport and meet up with Cheryl and Deb the next day … that was a good plan!  Everything at the hotel was just perfect … there was even a Mexican restaurant attached to the premises that we thoroughly enjoyed!!  It was an early night for us all, after a long day of travelling - along with the excitement of the day …  

We had decided to tour a little of Atlanta before heading to our mountain cabin … and even in the choice of where to eat, what to see and where to sleep … it was perfect … even valet parking turned out to be FREE for the scarf sisters!  We were travelling in heavenly style!  I personally started to fall in love with the Georgia I saw …  

The next day, on way to our cabin, we stopped at the Amicacola Falls Lodge to view the fall foliage.  The first thing I did there was to lose my change purse and $200.00!  I’m so glad that I had headed the prior warning in my head to store my vacation money in 3 different  spots .. When I discovered that my change purse had fallen out, I was disheartened!  first because I didn’t want my sweet sisters to be concerned or ruin our time together in any way …  then I prayed and gave the money to the Lord and asked that if it was lost to me, may it be found by someone who needed it !  The sisters prayed while Mrs. Mac and I retraced our steps … nothing turned up … next I went to the lodge desk to inquire if anyone had turned in a pink change purse … and PTL!  Someone had, a sweet couple returned what was lost!  Yup, we all rejoiced!!!  

we continued with our delays (which later proved to be “God’s delays” to bless us) … even seating for our yummy buffet lunch took 20 minutes (but we did get the best seats in the house!) … 

We finally reached the Amicacola Falls nature trail which was mobility friendly ...  Deb was able to do some of the path … we each received our own blessings at this beautiful spot that Cheryl had found for us.

After our wander in nature, we met at to the parking lot … Cheryl's car wouldn't start .. the battery was dead! ... an older couple appeared with booster cables … the fellow tried to get it going, but heavier booster cables were needed - and OF COURSE, God provided those to us through  a park employee who drove in right on cue!!   As it turns out, the couple who helped us were believers!!  their kids were in Atlanta as missionaries with operation mobilization! Cheryl told the fellah he was Jesus with skin on!!! because of our previous delays, the timing was perfect for  help with our dead battery problem!!! 

as we all drove on to Ellijay, Mrs. Mac and I noticed a big truck with " his majesty" written on it and a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky even tho it hadn't rained!!!   Felt like God was smiling at us …

 God had prepared that cabin to suit our needs perfectly …  we had good fellowship, prayer time, ALL THE TIME - as we encouraged each other in the LORD.

These are some of the things that I remember … and I’m sure each of the girls received personal answers and had their own quiet times with the LORD … as I did … during our stay at the cabin …

It was so good for me to be able to be in a ‘safe place’ … with women who love Jesus and are trying to be workers in His field … 

And to top off the trip for me, when I got to my connecting city for my trip home - I checked to see if I could change my flight, so that I wouldn’t have to wait 5 hours (and get home after midnight!) … I was told the flight was 100% full … I walked to my own gate and watched the flight I wanted to be on, boarding … I thought (at the prompting in my spirit), I’ll just go sit there and chat to the ticket agent … I did that … I told him I had nothing but time and if by chance there was an empty seat - I would like it, please … everyone had boarded … they waited on some stragglers … then the ticket agent said: “I have one seat that has become available” … *SMILE* … I got home at 8:30 pm instead of after midnight … sigh … isn’t GOD good!

Yup … the Lord met us and answered our prayers, sometimes before we even knew to pray them!