silent prayer retreat

This past Friday, 30 people (including myself) from my church left on the church bus to go to Eufaula Alabama to Blessed Trinity for a Silent prayer retreat. As we were on the way up there a random thought/prayer went into my head. I asked the Lord to give me a rainbow since that's one of the many things he likes to give me. 5 min later or around that..I went on facebook and my friend Erin posted a pic of a rainbow on my page..then a few min later and my friend Amanda posted a pic of birds above water and she said there's a rainbow in there that reminded her of me. So even though I was looking for the rainbow in the sky he gave it to me through these ways. Also Nikki and Gemma had on Crosses that my friend Michelle makes and it's it rainbow colors! So 3 times he gave me a rainbow all within a few min of each other! We then stop at Eufaula to eat at a barbeque place and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me :) It was really sweet! Yes, I turned 33 on Friday..very sentimental since Jesus died when he was 33 and the Lord communicates to me in numbers and this is one of the main numbers he gives me :3:33..Thursday night before we left I said "Lord, that would be funny if you woke me up when with a number with 33 in it"..well that night he woke me up at 1:33..then as we were driving up to Eufaula I saw a sign for acreage for sale and it said "133 acres for sale"..off I-10! It may or may not be significant but I like to think it is..what are the chances of that? Once we arrive to Blessed Trinity I find out I'm in room 3!!! Really?? Out of all the room numbers..I'm in room 3?? and I turned 33...so hence 3:33! Also there were 30 of us and out of the 30 there were 13 new comers. Some of you may think i'm crazy and that's okay..it's just how God communicates with me :) So we all get checked in and have a meeting with everyone before hand..we then have about 1 hour and 30 min before dinner so we can use it by going outside or where ever to spend time with God by ourselves and to be still and know he is God! I walked outside with Mom in silence and I stopped at the pond and she continued on..I sat under this beautiful tree full of greenery and then walked back up to our rooms..as I was walking I became overwhelmed with all the things God has done for me..healing my mother, all his provisions, everything! I then asked God to give me a deer sighting..thinking how cool would that be..there is a lot of forest around and plenty of deer (or so you would think)..He didn't give it to me right then but I wasn't disappointed since I really felt his presence and that's enough! Well, Little did I know that when mom went off on her trail around the same time, she was walking and became overwhelmed as well with her healing and all God had done for her and then she saw a squirrel dart in front of her and then she heard more brustling in the leaves and all of a sudden a huge deer leaped out in front of her!! That night we practiced Lectivo divina (don't know if that's spelled right) : It's where you really focus on a few verses of scripture and imagine you are there and what God is trying to say to you regarding that passage. She chose to focus on the Prodigal son story..I have a few people I know that aren't saved Personally..there are Many people in our world that aren't and My prayer is that they will be brought back to Christ in a Great and mighty way! Jesus says He doesn't wish for any to perish but for all to have eternal life! The next day, we had a devotional given by Gemma. She talked about how we are all on a pilgrimage and she gave us a little card that states : Trust in his timing, Rely on his promises, wait for his answers, believe in his miracles, Rejoice in his goodness, Relax in his presence. Also in my daily reading bible, I just happened to be on Psalm 23 which I'll go back to once I tell you about what took place this day. I went exploring after breakfast by myself and stopped at the sisters cemetery to just reflect and praise God and listen. I sang "you are Faithful" by Jesus Culture and after I got done I turned and there was a Deer!! He was maybe 20 to 30 feet from me and he was just standing there looking intently at me..I felt it was Like Jesus was saying "Come and follow me"..The deer then leaped off and I walked after it and saw another deer! I then proceeded to walk to the "Grotto" ..Has a statue of Mary and a soft trickling stream. Well as I complete my prayer/devotional here I hear something int he woods to my right and there is a family of Deer (probably 3 or 4). I then go the the "Holy Hill" and as I'm walking I see another family of deer (around 3 or 4). I then proceed to have quiet/prayer/devotional time at the Holy Hill and as I'm listening for God I hear a breeze through the trees and I feel a presence behind me and I felt something touch me around my back and I must have jumped 1,000 feet..anyway, I totally ruined the moment and I knew It was God coming close to me. It was AMAZING! I guess he took me by surprise :) I looked around and didn't "see" him but I felt him! In my devotional it said " As we draw near to him, he draws near to us." Very true!! Also he gave me several other verses: Isaiah 43:2, Jeremiah 31:3, Zepahaniah 3:7, John 14: 21, 23. So God showed me Deer 3 times!! I then walked to the old church and the Walk to Emmaus statue! I thought how neat they have that here since my dad who is also on the retreat will be attending his walk the next weekend! After Lunch, a few of us went down to the river (Mom, Nikki, Gemma, and I) and then others joined us later and we had a circle of prayer. That was very powerful as well. So back to Psalm 23..It says "He maketh me lie down in green pastures"..we were laying in grass by the lake.."He leadeth me beside still waters"..we were by the river and how still it was and peaceful.."he restores my soul"..my soul and mnay others were restored!! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ!! Sat night there was testimonies given and we were able to pray for those that needed prayer as well. I then spent time at the foot of the cross in the chapel and worshiped God and took communion. It was awesome! Then Sunday, Charles gave a devotional and sang a wonderful song. He talked about Psalm 84 and how God is loving, merciful, gracious, and Holy! and how important it is to spend time with him. I then felt God leading me to stations of the cross..It's beautiful and outside along this path. I then felt like going back to when I was Catholic..many years ago..I had to look it up on my phone to read about each station even though I knew by looking at it what it was about but felt I could get more out of it by really focusing on the things God wanted to show me. During this time I felt his powerful presence and when I closed my eyes to pray to him I could feel his light around me and even though it was cold outside my heart was warm. I then walked to the pond and back and then we had lunch and then ended our retreat with testimonies and communion formed in large circle around the altar in chapel and I was able to give communion to my parents and they to me..How amazing is that? In all my years that has never happened and it was such a blessed time..and thankful the Lord prepared my heart in advance by doing stations of the cross to really have me meditate on what he did for all of us on the cross! I will forever be grateful for this precious time spent alone with the Lord! On the way home, Gemma spotted a small rainbow in the sky on either side of the sun! So he did answer my prayer in the way I expected him to ..he waited for the 3rd day to show me:) Our God is a GREAT and Mighty God and He deserves all our praises!!! A few of the things that I feel the Lord has changed me on and that I will continue to work on is I desire to be less selfish and want to be selfless, I want to not judge others but view others as God sees them, and continue to lay everything at his feet..to surrender all I am to him and for him to use me as his servant! I also take away that we should all pray without ceasing and Rejoice ALWAYS despite our circumstances..because He paid it all and he's on his throne!!! Thank you LORD!!!