You see this first man named Adam was in a perfect environment.  No sin, no bad things, no wrong choices, no poor health, no awkwardness, no bad memories, nothing hard to deal with, no financial strain, no relationship issues, good food available all the time...and if all that wasn’t good enough, Adam got to personally hang out with God.  He took actual walks with God in his perfect world.  How much better can it get than that?

But, God looked at Adam and felt compassion for him.  God said, “It is not good for man to be alone”.  But, he wasn’t really alone right, he had God, and God is enough.  But, God was so kind to give man more than Himself for a relationship.  God values relationships so much that He wanted to give this man someone similar to him, so He created a woman.  Another person for Adam to relate to, chat with, share life with.

God said, “it's not good for man to be alone”.

And I am reminded of that compassion as I look back on the Restorable project and see how God so kindly surrounded me with men and women to love and support me.
  

If you have been joining me here over the last 5-ish months, then you know, I am in a series (a series that has taken WAY longer than I ever expected, due to covid-19 life) that I call “Reflections from the Restorable Retreat”.  A series where I have been reflecting on treasures that I discovered by doing something WAY out of my comfort zone.  

This time of reflecting has been so good for me.  It really has been a sweet space of gratitude.  It’s been sort of a gentle pause to look back and remember something very good.  And, I am thankful to hear that so many of you have joined me here and have received with me in this space..  

Do you know that being surrounded by your love and support through this Restorable project meant so much to me?  Probably, more than you know.  Your presence and words of encouragement have been truly powerful, and impactful for ME to continue on in this thing. 


So, as you take time again with me here today, I hope you will consider sharing what encouraged you with a friend?  Doing the small thing of sending a podcast or blog recommendation to someone, could possibly be just the thing that is used to remind them that they are thought of and cared for.

Because today’s reflection is gonna be all about the power of community and how I’ve learned to value the gift of friendship!

If you listened to episode 11 or read the blog “Broken Yet Beneficial”, then you heard how I got to lead 11 women from the Restorable Retreat to name their broken thing and look for visuals of hope at a junkyard.  Our experience was so moving and powerful for each of us, and I shared how God so kindly showed me my own broken places, and how He uses me EVEN WHILE I am still in the process of being restored! 

That Saturday morning at the junkyard truly was an experience that touched our hearts and we were all thankful for it, but it was tiring!  Emotional stuff/heart work can leave us feeling a bit exhausted sometimes.  So, we came back from the junkyard ready for someone to care for us and offer us rest and nurturing.  And THAT was exactly what we received (and more)!

If you listened to episode 12 from my reflections from Restorable, then you heard how our tired and weary bodies entered that old stone home ready to be warmly greeted with a smell that was soon to be our beautiful and tasty lunch made by Rhonda Larson from Beautiful Healing Journey .  Rhonda did an amazing job of graciously sharing her wisdom and heart with us at the retreat. She fed us both food and advice that we hungrily welcomed.  It was so good that I actually had Rhonda as a guest on Hope Layer on Episode 12. 

Well, after she left, we all sort of soaked in some much needed downtime.  Some of us chose to get a nap.  Some chose to casually chat with a new friend, while others took time to quietly consider their own path towards hope and healing.  This welcomed time sort of lingered until we were ready to come back to the table and do a bit of creative therapy.  

Aimee  Weaver of Aimee Weaver Designs  had us all set up to paint signs that would be visual reminders of hope to hang in our homes.  Aimee made our signs from wood that had an original purpose for old barn walls and mushroom houses.  It was a tangible and visual reminder that even old wood can be restored into something beautiful and purposeful. 

This time painting and casually chatting at the table was so peaceful, and I don’t even think it was socially awkward for any of us.  Rather it was sort of cathartic, if ya know what I mean.  As we sat around that long table with paintbrushes in our hands we continued to meet multiple needs.   A need to create and a need to connect

.

.

What a full and wonderful day we were having!  With an emotional field trip behind us, a meaningful lunch, a nurturing wellness education, not to mention some rest and creativity all in one day.  We sure were ready to sit comfortably together for a loving dinner made by my friend Julie.  The smell of roasted root vegetables, stuffed chicken, Julie’s fresh baked artisan breads and desserts of all kinds welcomed us back into the dining room that Saturday evening.  Once again we enjoyed the freedom of soaking in the gift of being fed and the gift of chatter from new friendships forming.  It felt so nice!

We sat around that table with our named broken thing in our hearts, and at the same time we were able to sense God’s care for us.  I think that there was some sort of peace that we were not alone, and that we can be ok with our not ok.  

The unique battle inside each of our hearts was clearly named and faced, and we knew that this sort of  break away from it all wouldn’t fix or change things... but we also knew that God was going to be with us when we packed up to leave the next day.

The quiet question that lingered for some of us was, “how?”.  How do we leave this safe and nurturing space and go back to our hard stuff?  


I don’t know about you, but that is a question that I have often asked.  

“HOW, GOD? This hard thing is too hard.”

And as I have struggled with that question, I have found a really great story that has given me some direction.  

So, I shared this story with my retreat friends on Saturday night.

The story is actually about a King who was about to face a very intimidating battle.  Like a physical battle, a battle with swords and weapons and stuff.  But, what was unique about this battle was that his enemy was something like three times the size of his army, so you can imagine that he was also facing the battle of fear.

This King was informed that three countries were combining to join forces to defeat his country, AND that they were already on their way to seek and destroy him and his people.  

It makes sense that this man in charge was overcome with feelings of fear and desperation.  So, with humility and vulnerability he reached out to God and said, 

"we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

Essentially this guy said to God, “look at this God, it's obvious that this is way too big of a problem for me, I can’t do it, I NEED your help!”

The ladies and I paused a bit that Saturday night and considered our own “too big problems”.  We thought of our battle that we felt too small to fight, and we acknowledged that that thing leaves us feeling hopeless, fearful and defeated at times…

Probably something like this King Jehosaphat felt.


So, God responded to the King and said,  ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.”

And if you read this whole story in the Bible, in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, you will see that God gave King Jehosaphat and his men very clear direction, and very clear hope.  It’s almost like this guy was off the hook.  He didn’t have to figure out a plan to win this battle… and sometimes I just want to be off the hook too.  I look at my too big battle and I try to figure out a plan to get through it and maybe even conquer it, but it’s just too big and I don’t know how.  Oh to hear God say to me, “you need not fight in this battle, station yourself, Jen, and stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf”.

So, the King ordered the men to move forward together.  But they weren’t to march like a typical army, rather they were to GO IN FAITH that God was in fact going to win this battle for them, and their job was actually just to sing to God while marching.  

God was leading them from a literal valley up to a mountain so they could get a good view of HOW HE was gonna fight and win this battle for them.

And as they began to move and worship, God began to set ambushes against their enemy.  And as King Jehosaphat’s men approached a higher place that overlooked the desert valley, they could SEE that God completely won this too huge battle FOR THEM. 

This story gets so cool and I would love to keep going into it right now...but instead I’ll just tell you a highlight that I love.  You see the valley that held this battle was once called “the Valley of weeping”...but after this battle was won by God and after they got to collect the plunder from the enemy for three whole days, they renamed this place and called it “The Valley of Blessing”.


Friend, I don’t know about you, but the things that I name my “valley of weeping”, the thing that I hate and is too big for me to even fight, the thing that defeats me and knocks me over time and time again.. That thing… I can’t even IMAGINE re-naming that thing and calling it a “blessing”.  

But, what if that thing, is something that God can and will restore if I follow His lead?  What if I can begin to see the blessing and feel hope by reaching out to God for help, growing to trust Him more, and by singing and acknowledging truths about who He is while I am in the thick of my too hard thing?  What if worshiping is HOW I fight my battles?  What if gathering with other friends to name the hard thing while also boldly declaring that God is bigger than that thing is how we will win?



So, together, the eleven of us sat with our “too big battles” on our hearts that Saturday night.

Together we acknowledged that we didn’t know how God was going to help us, but we knew that He could.

And Together, we worshipped.

Guys, I have to say that something shifts inside of me when I choose to worship God by myself.  I gain a fresh perspective.  I begin to feel lifted as I sing things that are true.  And sometimes I can even go from despair to hope, just from acknowledging who God is and trusting that He is who He says He is.  But, this doesn’t only happen on my own, because something really powerful happens when I do this outloud with other people.

So, this Saturday evening at the retreat was “planned” because of what God showed me in 2 Chronicles.  I knew that He would have something good for us, but I didn’t know all the details of what that goodness would look like.  When it came to it, God ended up taking my plan for our time together and He propelled it into something more powerful and meaningful than I was even imagining that He would do.  

You see, throughout our Saturday there at the retreat, God kept compelling my friend Terry to allow her too big battle to be used to show us hope because of the victory in her life.  And that through her sharing that she would continue to discover more healing in her own story.  She talked about it with Meagan and myself earlier in the day, and she full on wrestled with God over it.  So, we prayed for her, and then we watched God use Terry as she shared through words and song her story of battle, hopelessness, defeat and ultimate victory in her battle.  

It was a powerful evening surrounded by authentic women, and I feel so grateful for each of the memories imprinted in my heart and mind from it.

But, none of this … I mean none of this powerful evening, or whole weekend of sweet togetherness would have or even could have happened if I didn’t first take my fears to God.  

None of this, if I didn’t first recognize what HE COULD DO WITH SOMETHING TOO BIG FOR ME.  

AND. I truly believe that none of this would have happened if I didn’t first admit MY NEED to be surrounded by some good friends!  

I’ve probably said it so many times, but I really struggled with the tension of feeling like God wanted me to create a restorable retreat.  I truly couldn’t imagine how it would be possible for me to pull off, so I kept assuming that I shouldn’t do it. It was too big for me to do.  And I made up a thousand legitimate excuses of why I not to.  Except, I know now that God kept putting a fire inside of me to do this too big thing. So, back in July of 2019 I sent out a unique email to my email subscribers.  I’ll read parts of it to ya..

I do this email and blog thing to encourage you.  I desire to support you, to inspire you, to offer you hope, comfort and encouragement and to possibly invite you to some day do your own Layered Photography project with me.  I believe that God has compelled me to do this out of the overflow of the comfort that I have received from Him through the creative outlets that He has placed inside of me. 


BUT, Today...I am asking for YOUR support...  


You know about the Restorable project that I am working on, right? 


BUT... I can’t do this.  Or atleast, I can’t do this alone.  I need help!! 


I recently began asking God if I should start a team for prayer support.  I kept asking and asking if this was a good idea or not…I know, it sounds like an obvious “yes”...like, why would God say “no” to me seeking prayer support?!  Right?!! ...but…. I wasn’t sure.


Then, God, in His kindness, gave me confirmation one morning as I was reading the book of Daniel from the Bible.  And basically the short version of this true story is that the King had a weird dream that he wanted interpreted, and since none of his wise men could tell him what the dream was, he ordered that ALL the wise men would be killed.  That included Daniel.


But, Daniel knew that GOD WAS CAPABLE of telling and interpreting the king’s dream and he sensed in his heart that God might want to do this dream telling and interpreting thing through him.  

So, you know what Daniel did???  HE GOT PRAYER SUPPORT!!  He asked for his friends to PRAY! 
(check it out...Daniel chapter 2)


While sitting on my couch reading this story, I was like, “ok, God, I believe that you have a message to share through Restorable, and I believe that You want me to share it in various ways to friends and to people who I don’t even know yet”.... But I CANNOT do this...I am just a vessel… a vessel that is afraid, a vessel that gets distracted, a vessel that can move in certain directions without God’s leading. 


Friends, I believe that God has began a good work in me...and I do believe that He is faithful to complete this work...BUT...I believe that He wants me to have a team to support this project with prayer.


So, here I am, sending an email to my email subscribers…. giving you all a little update...but also inviting you to join the “Restorable Prayer Team”.


So, that was the email that I sent about a year ago now.  It was an email that gave me such encouraging responses, and within days I was surrounded by a team of authentic supporters and pray-ers.  I felt helped, I felt less alone, I felt so grateful!  THIS was a shift.. A game changer.  I knew now that I NEEDED to do this retreat, and that, with the help from God, the prayer team, my family, friends and counselor, I COULD DO THIS.  

And as you see now, Restorable went from being a quiet seed in my heart to three years later inviting women to cozy up together for a weekend of sharing our hearts together, and the funny thing is, I was never really huge into women’s retreats.  I was actually totally content with missing out on them.  For whatever reason, I just didn’t have a pull to go.  

Something obviously changed, because here I was together, with a community of broken women without all the answers.  We came together longing for restoration and discovering hope.  We came together because I pursued this thing, despite all my lack of connecting tendencies.

We came together because I was surrounded by a community of powerful supporters.  Eighteen people were now united to be called the Restorable Prayer Team.  My husband and kids were on board with me doing this “too big” thing.  My dear counselor cheered me on and affirmed what God can do.  Family and friends became the life line through this whole project.  

Even though I had willing supporters, I still sometimes found it so hard to send a text or email to them asking for prayer.  I would have arguments in my head over whether or not I was being a bother to them.  I felt annoying, petty, lengthy, and selfish.  Why would they want to take the time to read my email, and will they actually pray?  Was it worth it to take the time to try to explain myself to them… would they really understand?  

Time and time again I would be battling through the planning and receiving from Restorable.  I would be tempted to scale back and lay low, but then someone would reach out to me, or many would begin praying after they heard my plea for prayer support… and I felt lifted, I felt able to continue to move forward and trust God into an unknown, too big thing! 

I have often said, “if God was the powerful force behind and in front of this project, then I am pretty sure my community of supporters was right there with Him through launching this restorable project, and honestly, through the ongoing process of restoring my soul.

And I guess all this begs the question.  Can you relate?

I mean, what about you?  Are you facing a “too big” battle?  

Do you need to be reminded that it is not good for you to be alone.  Do you need to reach out for support right now?  

My guess is, is that you are not the only one in need in your community, and maybe that is one of your reasons that you don’t reach out.  You don’t want to burden someone else with your problems.  Well, you can listen to episode 11 to hear how God uses people even in their broken state..and how it ends up being a good thing for everyone! 

So, will you consider today, reaching out and sharing your need with a friend?  And, maybe you can also reach out and send a friend a simple encouragement so that they are reminded that they are not alone… it just might be the thing that you didn’t know would be needed.

Also, may I remind you, that sometimes we need someone to talk to who is outside of our typical community.  We need a professional who can sort of see the forest through the trees for us.  We need someone who can hold hope for us.  I once had a mentor lovingly tell me that she was holding hope for me… those were powerful words that I leaned on. If you are in a season where you could use a listening ear and a gentle guide, then contact my friend Meagan at Take Heart Counseling.  She too is surrounded by a team of counselors on her equine assisted therapy farm.  They are trained and ready to care for you and guide you to hope and healing.  If you are considering if this might be a path for you, then Meagan is offering $25 off your first appointment when you email her at Meagan@takeheartcounseling and mention the $25 discount from the Hope Layer Podcast. 
(learn more at www.takeheartcounseling.com) 


Above all, we have a constant friend available.  He is Jesus.  He is God who chose to allow His only son to become flesh and blood and feel all the hard things that we feel as humans.  

Have you ever been able to connect with the God who made You?  Have you ever been able to honestly tell Him what is too big for you?  Have you ever taken time to truly acknowledge who He says He is… do you believe Him?

And have you ever sung words about Him?

Listen, I’m gonna leave links in this show’s notes of some songs that help me worship, and some songs that we sang together at the Restorable Retreat.  

And as we grow together I hope that we will discover a special layer of hope that is only found by connecting with other humans

Here are some songs to get ya started:

Quiet 
Waymaker 
Even If (song & testimony)
This is How I fight my battles 
HOME 
Rattle
See a Victory