My friends, Ann here.

I shared with you in my last post that Bryce and I recently bought a house in a remote location, and I want to set it up as a retreat for people to come to: A place they can find Jesus.

Bryce does know this, and is humoring me LOL. Now that we have been married almost 30 years, he is used to my ‘hair-brained’ schemes.

There are other retreats out there, like what I have in mind. For example, there is one called Ffald-y-Brenin, in Wales: Home – Ffald y Brenin. And people feel the presence of God there.

I also have been inspired by a couple of ministers in the UK who have now died: Tom and Jean Rees. They set up three retreats at different points in their life, one which was called Hildenbrough Hall.

I don’t have such grand designs for mine. It’ll be simple and small. But in my mind I’m thinking people come, I cook and bake for them, offer them an ‘all you can eat’ experience, and they take a rest. There’s a little prayer room in the house, off to one side, and I want to offer prayer and coaching. There are nice secluded beaches to walk to, and I might make a website for the retreat. Strangers will be welcome.

My friends, I believe when we get a dream like this, it’s God who puts it there. It’s like a seed that he sows in our mind, and then he waters it.

Anyway, today I want to tell you something startling that happened in relation to all this:

I had in my head that we will only have Christian books in the retreat, and we will have lots of them.’

But where would I get such books? I have a collection of Christian books at home, but I wanted to keep those there. They are precious to me, and I want them in my home space. No, for this retreat I needed a new lot of books.

I mentioned this to a friend, who instantly said, “OH! I know a lady whose husband was a pastor, he has recently died, and she is having to downsize. She needs someone to take his books”

“Me Me Me!” I said, trying to contain myself from jumping up and down.

Fast forward a week, and I found myself sat opposite this recently widowed daughter of God, at her kitchen table. I had just spent the morning packing her husband’s books into boxes and boxes and carting them to my car. Taking a breather, I was now sat with her. “Tell me about your husband…” I said. “I love talking about him,” she answered. And she told me the story of this faithful man who had collected Christian books since the age of 18 until his death at age 91.

“We believed that to be saved was to serve,” she mused.

He was a man of deep faith, who lived his whole life in service to the church and to Jesus, and finished his race.

I now have this man’s life collection of books in my retreat, ready for others to enjoy. Here they are:

My friends, I love the fact that this pastor’s legacy will live on like this; and I personally believe he can see where his books have ended up, watching from the cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). I tell you, he has SUCH good books — I cannot wait to sit down in the chair and dig into them.

I guess the message I take from this is that when God puts a dream into your heart he brings it to fruition in remarkable, creative, and delightful ways.

Have you got a dream you’re nurturing in your heart? A dream that perhaps came from God?

It’s nice chatting. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Ann