Personal Perspective - Open Door Retreat - Windy McCall

I started working as the Personal Retreat Consultant for Reflective Life Ministries in May, 2009. While I worked with Carla to learn the heart and business part of the ministry, she shared a vision from God with me: a retreat for small churches and individuals who don’t have the opportunity to plan or attend one. This event would be hosted by Reflective Life instead of an individual church. So we both started praying, although Carla had already been praying for the fulfillment of this vision for a long time.

The next thing I knew, the vision became a reality! Reflective Life came in contact with two small churches who became very excited about the idea. The next question: what to name the retreat? Honestly, I searched the word community in a thesaurus. After sifting through terms like district, neighborhood, area, etc., I found a much better phrase that means accessible and welcome, Open Door. Matthew 7:7 may come to your mind. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” It is definitely Reflective Life’s desire to provide retreat opportunities for all; but, I was thinking more along the lines of how we have an open door policy with The Almighty. I couldn’t find the scripture that backed that idea, until one day, while driving, I heard Jeremy Camp sing This Man. He sang the lyric, “And the veil was torn so we could have this open door.” That was it! I was pointed to Mark 15:38, “And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” What does that have to do with Open Doors? Hebrews 9:3 tells us that in the temple, behind the second veil, was a tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. The veil was a curtain separating us from God.

Back in Mark, we read that the veil was torn right after Jesus breathed His last. Only God could have torn it from top to bottom. Jesus’ death led to an open door between God and man! Halleluiah! Reflective Life’s heart is to help women come closer to the Father, to help women walk through that open door, and the Open Door Retreat is just one way we do that.

The first Open Door Retreat took place in January of this year, and it was an enormous success. Everyone learned about the full armor of God, connected with many different women, and had lots of fun! The Reflective Life staff learned a lot, came up with some new ideas, and was motivated for next year! God gets all the credit and the Glory. If He’s nudging you to come to next year’s retreat, please get in touch with us!