Who is that Woman, and What is that Music?
April 2008

At our National Ladies Retreat in Swanwick, this year, we learned about the various facets of our life and the roles we are to play. The theme was taken from the book of Ezekial in which a multi-faceted being is described. The face of man, at the front, represents the soul, the person.

To the right hand side is the face of a LION. A lion ROARS to establish and pronounce his territory. He represents the King, a figure of authority and he prowls his kingdom to publish his dominion abroad and to drive out any potential or actual enemies. This is the area of our life where we cry out our spiritual territory. We take dominion over the enemies who would attack our family, our home or those to whom we minister.

To the left hand side is the face of an OX. An ox is YOLKED with another and laboriously treads up and down his furrow, hour by hour, day after day, performing the heavy work in his field. We find this area of our life difficult, exhausting and monotonous at times. But this is where we are productive. This is where we labour to prepare the ground to bring forth fruit.

At the BACK, is an EAGLE. An eagle is found SOARING over the tops of mountains. It is often used to represent the vision that is accessible from such a height. The question was asked, “Why is the eagle positioned at the back of the head rather than the front, if it is linked with our view, our plans, our future?” This is because, when we have climbed our steep mountainside to reach the great heights, we can look back over the huge way that we have come; we can reflect on how God has never left us but has always carried us through each step. Then we KNOW that we have confidence in HIM; we know that He will continue to carry us, to lead us, to protect us. We can trust Him to bring us round to accomplish our future. The eagle circles around and soars on ahead. It now can see beyond the mountain, beyond the next peak, beyond the next valley and on into the distance. We can now look through the eyes of faith to where God wants to bring us.

During each session in our 48 precious hours, we reflected, we dreamt, we learned, we confronted the challenges that lie ahead. We felt the deep dealing of the Holy Spirit; healing, reviving, directing.

Our special speaker, Janice Sjostrand, gave insights from her own, very personal experiences. She is talented, anointed and has become ‘our friend’. She is mentioned in connection with the funeral of President Clinton’s mother at which she sang “Holy Ground.” Barbara Streisand, who was sitting behind the President, was amazed. Afterwards she asked, “Who is that woman and what is that music? It’s magnificent.”