Come and learn the secret of the trees.  Will you join me as we learn to become women of strength through understanding the seasons of our lives and reflecting on the teachings of Scripture?  I believe through the same process God grows trees, He grows you and me!  Discover how light and water and weather and fire can strengthen a tree and our own souls.  Every woman whose heart longs to draw closer to Christ needs deeper roots and sweeter fruit!  A. W. Tozer writes:   

If we surrender our hearts to God we may expect a wondrous enlargement. And who knows what He can do if we take our hands off and let Him work? 

Did you know that there are parallel principles of natural growth in the life of a tree with supernatural truth in the life of a believer?  The growth of a tree is a bright and moving source of inspiration and instruction for women who want to become more like Jesus Christ.  Trees have always been a part of our landscape and serve to teach us about the glory of God and what it means to “grow up” in Christ! Christ is the author of divine Truth and of all His creation.  He uses examples from trees as a most effective means of conveying His truth to human hearts.  Come and discover how to “grow like a cedar in Lebanon” by participating together in the 2010 Be Still Retreat.  Whatever season of life we are in, there is further growth and lessons to learn from our Heavenly Father.  As sure as the rings of a tree teach us the history and trials of its life, so do we as Christian women have “rings to grow and new fruit to bear” as we deepen our roots in His Word and in worship. 

“The righteous woman shall flourish like the palm tree: she will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” Ps. 92:12 

Will you give God a “new shape to shine in”?  Will you reach deeper into His truth and grace, grow stronger in your faith and accept the next challenging weather forecast of His creative pruning?  What  will it take to learn to “be still” so you can “get inside the miracle of holy growth” in your own soul?  This weekend is designed to give you the air and light and time and quiet to bask in His holiness and develop deeper roots and richer fruit for His Kingdom. 

A lot of the Christian life develops “underground” when we aren’t looking. ~Eugene Peterson, The Wisdom of Each Other 

Starting from the ground up, we will learn the principles of growth from trees and apply them to our own spiritual growth in Christ.  The wisdom from the tree is extremely beneficial to our understanding of Christ’s working in each life.  Christ has designed each of our souls to be unique and knows the nature of each tree.  This one needs shade and damp; and another needs sunlight and a light soil; and so the Gardener puts His trees where they are most likely to flourish.  God does the same with us.   

Our BSR theme for 2010 is “As A Tree Grows: Seasons of a Woman’s Life.”               Jeremiah 17:7,8 says: 

Blessed is the woman who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD.For she will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream
         And will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. 

I can hear Jesus calling all of us saying, “Be like a tree and come follow Me!"                            Bearing fruit for the Father,

Beth 

Beth Ladd, BSR Director