Hilltop Renewal Center
a weekend away to fight
This past weekend, a few ladies and I got away to Hilltop Renewal Center in Idyllwild, Mount San Jacinto State Park. This house was a picture of peace, sitting snugly on the mountainside beneath Jeffrey pine and White Fir. Inside the House of Community, the furniture, dishes, decor, beds, room additions, and blankets are attached to stories of God’s faithfulness and provision. In this, Hilltop Renewal Center is similar to what the Ark of the Covenant was to the Israelites. The ark held the ten commandments, the budding staff, and a jar of manna, reminding the Israelites of God’s words and how he showed up for his people. Hilltop feels like that: a collection of tangible ways God has shown up to provide a place for people to rest and hear his word.
The house has eight bedrooms, most with their own bathroom, a Keurig, a spot to sit, and windows to view the trees. I slept in what I call the slumber party room because it has four beds and feels like a dorm. While most rooms are connected to the living, dining, and gathering spaces, several rooms are reached by exiting, going down or up a flight of steps and re-entering on another floor. I appreciated this as it gave us a truly private space to be with the Lord.
At the driveway level, sits a prayer chapel, white and clean and looking a little like a place for the knights of the Round Table to meet and discuss how they will stand up to sin. Come to think of it, maybe that’s exactly what this chapel is. Isn’t that what every Christian does when they fall on their knees to pray? Make plans to fight?
Sword Fighting
This weekend, we ladies sought the lord in prayer, heard from him in tangible ways, and cried many tears. It didn’t feel like we were vanquishing evil with swords, but I think we were. We were tearing down strongholds and losing the chains from each other as we met with the Lord separately, and then gathered to speak God’s words to each other, calling out the dark and hidden places in our hearts.
The intense amount of time we spent “sword-fighting” together was overwhelming. I’m comfortable spending hours alone with the Lord, but spending hours with people being as honest as humanly possible pushed me to exhaustion. I wasn’t used to this, and the fatigue highlighted an area of my life that’s been lacking: real community. It’s one thing to talk to other people about summer trips, school schedules, kids’ behaviors, or the latest books I’ve read; it’s another thing to share my fears, frustrations, dreams, hurts, suspicions, and doubts. It is so rare to have people who will listen to that kind of stuff, rare but golden.
I think this is what companions engaged in spiritual warfare do. They spar together. They know each other’s weaknesses and strengths. They tend each other’s wounds. They stand side by side and learn to interlock their shields. They block up any chinks. They learn to decipher where the enemy will attack next, and they go into the dark places to free captives.
As Christian warriors, we need a place to regroup, hear from the Lord, and practice fighting. Hilltop is that. We’re definitely going back.
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Very unique nd special!