Lessons learned, thoughts provoked

So I went on a Ladies Retreat this weekend (well Friday night and most of today). The theme was Spiritual Boot Camp. The material used was from a book that I did a much more lengthy study on previously so there wasn't much meat to the weekend as I had hoped. But it was good none the less. The book is Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. I had forgotten that there was chapter on submission so I plan of rereading it. I do have some parting thoughts from this weekend that I wanted to remember so I thought I would put it here.

• Submission is a spirit with which we view other people, not an attempt to set forth a series of hierarchical relationships but to communicate an inner attitude of mutual subordination.
• Submission is the ability to lay down the burden of always needing to get our own way.
• We submit to God, scripture, family, neighbors, believing community (the Church), the broken and despised, and the world (be a responsible member in an increasingly irresponsible society).
• Service is not a list of things we do but a way of living
• Self-righteous service comes through human effort. True service comes from a relationship with God deep inside.
• Serve out of whispered promptings, there is no difference between big and small acts, free from the need to calculate results, not based on a feeling or a mood. It is a lifestyle not an act.

At the end we were asked to write down a few things we thought God taught us this weekend. At first I wasn't sure if I learned anything, but as I reflected on the weekend I was reminded of a few things.

• During my time of meditation - it is ok to sit with what I am told (I caught myself wondering what I am going to blog about, how am I going to put into comprehendable words and sentences what I am experiencing/learning during my meditation.)
• I need a deeper understanding of my role in submission (hence I am going to reread the chapter of the discipline of submission)
• To once again find joy in solitude. (Since living alone it has been increasingly more difficult to find peace and joy in moments of true solitude. Instead I usually feel depressed. But I can remember the spiritual high I could get from "hiding" out on a weekend during college and I want that again.)

I have started to feel stagnate in my submission and hopefully as I continue to reflect on the weekend I will be able to take another step towards total surrender to God.