Patti

My name is Patti and I wanted to share a bit of my experience with COJ. I went into the weekend nervous, but intentionally open to whatever the Lord had for me. My husband was set to go with me but became ill and was unable to go. I was reluctant to go without him, but my sponsor encouraged me to forge ahead because she knew the Lord had a plan for me during the weekend. I faced my fears of going it alone and took a step toward God knowing that I desperately needed whatever it was that HE had planned for me.
Walking into the weekend I was carrying a heavy heart, years of depression, anxiety, hurt, and bitterness. I didn’t even realize how much weight I was carrying but the Lord knew, and I truly believe he needed to deal with ME over this weekend. I had been dealing with overwhelming depression since 2018 after I returned from living in a third-world country for three months. In 2019, we adopted a 16-year-old young man out of foster care and as much as we love him, we found ourselves living in a chaos that we had never known before. My world was shattered. We sought help from our church family but were only met with statements of “I’ll pray for you” and weeks upon weeks of feeling forgotten and overlooked.

Throughout the weekend, I heard testimony after testimony of how the Lord had faithfully rescued and restored his people who had walked through every situation known to man. I began to realize that I was trying to control and navigate my life circumstances without placing my full trust in the only one who could bring the healing and restoration that I needed so desperately. At COJ, I was able to lay down the weight of the world I was carrying on my shoulders. My circumstances have not changed, but my thoughts and beliefs about who I am and who God is have changed. When I find myself drifting back to the banks to pick up those heavy bags, I hear the prayers prayed and the love poured over me and I remember that God is faithful to bring restoration and healing. I am so thankful for the COJ weekend. I am forever changed.