My spiritual director, Amy, asked me, “Do you trust God’s time?”

For years, I’d felt called to lead retreats.

In 2010, I started training to become a spiritual director. In 2013, I went to a conference to examine my call. Again, I felt a strong call to lead retreats.

But nothing happened.

One person told me she started her retreat ministry by writing letters to churches and offering her services. Great idea, but I didn’t do it.

Another person said she learned to lead retreats by going to them. I loved the idea, and went to several, but still nothing happened.

When Amy asked me if I trusted God’s time, I said yes. I do trust God’s time. I wasn’t worried about God’s time. I was worried I wasn’t doing something I was supposed to do. Amy asked me what I needed, and my first response was “courage” and “discipline.” But as I prayed about it, I realized what I really needed was a partner and a deadline.

The conversation with Amy was in February, 2017. Several months later, after the Easter sunrise service, Kathy Noble, a pastor in a neighboring church, suggested we meet for lunch and get to know one another. Within five minutes of sitting down for lunch, we realized we both wanted to lead retreats. So we put our first Come Away, My Beloved retreat on the schedule for September. Just a few months after praying for a partner and a deadline, I had both.

Those years in between my first call to lead retreats and my meeting with Kathy, when I thought nothing was happening, God was preparing me. I was learning about websites, blogs, online classes, photography and video, as well as different prayer practices. And I was training to become a spiritual director and attending retreats. All things we’re using in our retreat ministry.

Teilhard de Chardin says, “Trust in the slow work of God.” Do I trust God’s time? You bet I do. Even when it looks like nothing is happening.