Post PEARL

Well,
The PEARL ended on Sunday at about 10:30 a.m. Unfortunately for me, my PEARL ended a bit sooner. It's hard knowing I took the challenge to face this LTE for a second time, determined to finish and coming up short. My body physically quit on me. I'm glad the end of my PEARL experience wasn't caught on tape... I think it could have been used as blackmail for years. It's a bit pathetic watching a 21 year old attempt to sing Mary had a little lamb... and have a difficult time doing it. I guess that's what dehydration and a high physical demand will do to you. I liken it to a car running out of gas, such a simple problem to fix, and yet, if it happens at the wrong time the whole trip is over. Not to say that I didn't learn from the PEARL. Believe me, it was packed with tons of lessons. Through the help of me team I also accomplished a lot of things I NEVER thought I would be able to do. Still being in the process of reflecting I am still learning, and I won't know the full extent of what I've learned until I have a chance to put it in practice again. This year was a very humbling experience. I set out with finishing as my goal, and slowly but surely the Lord was telling me that finishing just because I felt I had something to prove to myself was the wrong reason to be doing the PEARL. Silly me I still thought I'd be able to finish, but when we disobey we are disciplined, I feel a lot of my body physically quitting had to do with being disciplined. Part of the PEARL is learning to rely on God's strength and having Him carry you through. I know I am capable of doing that, and that I was trying, but it didn't happen. Does that mean my prayers weren't answered? No, it simply means, I was missing out on something the Lord was trying to tell me and He had to open my eyes in a different way so that I would understand what He was trying to teach me.
It's late, I need to get to sleep. I'll try to update over the next couple of days with a new lesson each day.