Genesis 2:10, English Standard Version

“A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.”

Soon we will be hosting our Beauty for Ashes women’s heart healing art retreat at Bramabella in Moravian Falls, North Carolina! I was so blessed to get a peek at the property to assist with logistics for the retreat. The host was so kind to show me around and can I just say wow! What a beautiful hidden gem this property is! From the house to the formal butterfly gardens, to the blueberry bushes, to the spectacular views, and to the Eden trail that ran along a beautiful mountain stream with mini waterfalls—it was all so beautiful and peaceful! I can‘t wait for the retreat women to experience everything I did!

We have been so blessed to receive donations to give out seven full retreat scholarships and it is looking like all twelve retreat spots will be filled! A huge thank you to everyone who donated money to help with the retreat or sponsor someone to come! We can’t wait to love on these women and to see how God is going to show up for them!

You know, as I sit here reflecting on walking along the beautiful Eden trail that ran along the peaceful mountain stream at Bramabella, I am reminded of how Adam and Eve once walked in the garden with God the Father. I am reminded of Genesis 2:10 (ESV) that says, “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers” and “they (Adam and Eve) heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” (Genesis 3:8, ESV). What an amazing picture this painting is! To walk and talk with God in a garden every day with the peaceful water flowing all around! This picture is what God always wanted! This is what He always intended for our lives to be like with Him. He is a relational God that loves us so much and wants to spend time with us!

I often think that God the Father is the most misunderstood person in all of history. He first gave Adam and Eve (and all of humanity) free will because life and love without it would mean nothing. We would be like puppets. He then made Adam and Eve leave the garden out of love and mercy after they disobeyed and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of good & evil (the only thing He told them not to do!) If He didn’t make them leave Eden, they could have eaten off the Tree of Life and remained separated from Him for all of eternity. And He has been on a mission ever since that terrible day in the garden to get His kids back to the garden! Throughout the Old Testament He tried His best to guide a people group to stay holy because He knew to rescue His lost kids, Jesus would need to come from this bloodline. He would need to give the perfect sacrifice as a sin offering—the life of His only spotless sinless son. Can you imagine watching your own loved one die a gruesome death on a cross? And not even because He did anything wrong? Jesus was sent down to rescue us and Heaven was absolutely bankrupted for all of us! The value God the Father placed on all of us to create a way to get us back was the highest price that could have ever been paid! God’s masterful plan (of Jesus dying as the perfect and final blood lamb sacrifice and the payment for all of our sins then and now) completely caught Satan off guard! Satan was totally out tricked and outsmarted! Every wooden beam that could be made into a cross in all of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas would have been destroyed by Satan if he had any idea what God the Father and Jesus were about to do! And Jesus willingly did it! Wow! What an unbelievable display of unselfish agape love! It breaks my heart when people don’t understand or appreciate this free gift of reconciliation back to the Father through true belief in Jesus that also comes with life in the most beautiful garden of gardens—for eternity! And we don’t have to do anything—no payment, no work, nothing except to simply believe with all of heart that it is true and embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior! The things we do that show proof of this heart change naturally flow out and come after (not before) this amazing free gift of grace is given. The Bible is truly the greatest non-fiction love story ever told!

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