I recently went on a road trip with one of my dear friends and mentors. I attended a conference she was speaking at and after a few days of vacation with friends we hit the road driving from Amarillo, TX to Central Point, OR.  This friend has been very instrumental in my life resulting in opening the Emmaus Road Healing Center. I met her during a very dark time in my life when I was burned out, full of anxiety and disconnected from myself, God and others. She is the one who taught me that my heart mattered!

Say What?

Before we headed out, I knew she was busy with the conference leading up to our departure so I volunteered to navigate our scenic trip. Now, I have no idea why I would do that as I have absolutely no sense of direction. In my mind, straight is north, reverse is south, to the left is west and to the right is east. If you want to give me directions, I need landmarks like “at Chick-Fil-A turn left” or “at Dutch Bros. turn right.” When you start using terms like turn north or head south, I have no idea what you are saying to me. Fortunately, with my paper map, google maps and her sense of direction we were able to get to where we needed to with very little mishaps! We traveled through several states and were able to experience God’s beautiful creation by going to Moab and The Arches in Utah. 

It was early on in our trip one day when I was driving, I heard the Lord speak to me, “I don’t want you to do the Encounter Retreats just yet.” My heart stopped! I wasn’t sure I had heard right. I had been meeting for weeks with two incredibly talented friends who were putting together the FB and IG promotions for our first scheduled retreat at the end of September. Not only did he say it wasn’t the right timing, He didn’t tell me what the next step was, He just told me to wait and it would unfold. I sat on this for several days, trying it on for size to see if it indeed resonated in my spirit. It did, every time!

Learning to Pivot

It was interesting to me what was rising up in me when the Lord spoke. Thoughts in my head started whirling around, “I hope I don’t disappoint my ministry partner; my marketing friends are going to hate me (not really), they have put some much work in already;  I’ll look like a flake, advertising and then rescheduling, I need to get my act together.”

I had already been lining people up and inviting them to be a part of the Encounter Retreats.

“What are they going to think?,” I thought.

Fortunately, I didn’t wrestle with it too long, we have too long of a history together but I have a feeling the old me might have tried to push it through, to make it happen to save face, only not mature enough to admit to myself that’s what I was doing.

What I am learning when dreaming with Jesus is that it requires the ability to pivot, change directions, turn to the left instead of the right, halt, move, wait, rest. To be able to stand alone in hard decisions. I’ve also had to learn to relinquish and trust. Do I believe God is for me? After all, this ministry is His. This healing center is from His hand, right?

I said, “Okay Lord, I’ll lay it down.”

Immediately, a 50-pound weight lifted, one I hadn’t even recognized I was carrying – except that I couldn’t sleep at night. I would wake up several times praying and asking and wondering. When first scheduling it, I felt peace but as time went on, the peace was leaving but I wasn’t sure what that was. When God asks us to change directions, it’s not uncommon to think that we have done something wrong, that we somehow missed it, or that we failed Him.

We can often live with the illusion that if we are following Him it is always a direct path with very little pivoting. I have found that is not the case. As I inquired, He assured me that nothing was wasted and really good things came out of the time we were focused on planning the first retreat. We hadn’t missed a thing. He was taking us to the place we needed to be in our individual lives as well as a community working together. 

The Plan Unfolds

It was after we arrived home from our road trip the plan began to unfold. God had gone before me and my husband, ministry partner and marketing people quickly were on the same page and some had felt the same prompting. God was not casting aside the dream, He was asking us to think outside the box. It was actually expanding.

The desire of everyone involved in the planning and praying for Emmaus Road Ministries is for hearts to find safety, for the captives to be set free and for people to walk in healing. He began to pour out plans and ideas for how to facilitate a larger group of people in places of safety and invite people in to connect to their heart so they can come home to their heart.

Coming home to your heart is an invitation from Jesus to us. He describes this process: “You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship. For they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together (Songs 2:15 TPT).

We are never alone in this journey which is why we are so passionate about it, so confident that, if you so desire, you too can learn to come home to your heart. It’s about removing the hindrances (your faulty belief systems) from your relationship with Him which ruins and cuts off and makes you falsely believe you are separated from Him. There is no space between you. Living in that reality is your path to home. We are passionate about that message.

As Paul expressed: “Christ is our message, we preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth. It has become my inspiration and passion in ministry to labor with a tireless intensity, with his power flowing through me, to present to every believer the revelation of being his perfect one in Jesus Christ.” 

Sneek Peek

I’ll give you a peek into what is on the horizon. We will be holding interactive weekend Come Home To Your Heart Life Events, limited to the first 20 people who sign up. This is open to both men and women. Each life event will be built on learning to come home to your heart with a variety of emphases. You will walk away from every event with tools to awaken your heart, connect with God, yourself and others as well as walking through doors of creativity, learning to allow Jesus to romance you and growing in intimacy.

Coming home to your heart creates inner personal safety, freedom and peace, learning to live from a place of rest, fruitful relationships, responsive versus reactive, patience with self and others. You will possess a greater ability to walk in continual forgiveness and be empowered to grow, explore, discover and celebrate who God has created you to be. But most of all, you will be free to receive His love. 

And yes, we will be doing the retreats…just not yet!

Register Today!

Be sure to check out our events page for a listing of the upcoming Life Events. Space is limited so don’t wait too long. Lodging is also available for those who are traveling to attend. Our first one is October 8-10, 2021 – Come Home To Your Heart: Connecting to the Heart Jesus Gave You