Every year, amidst steadily warming temperatures and a forest blanketed in wildflowers, we welcome women to come up the mountain to Camas Meadows for the Camas Ladies Retreat.

This year, Judy Baker was our wonderful speaker.

Judy spoke from the books of Genesis and Psalms.

Her chapel sessions followed the story of Joseph.

Family drama, betrayal, tragedy, more betrayal, oppression, neglect, and finally victory. Joseph’s story has it all.

The true power of Joseph’s tale comes when you pause and consider that this epic story happened to a real person who didn’t know the ending and had to live the tragedies and triumphs with all the same emotions that we fight through on our own journey with God.

To begin the ladies’ journey with Joseph on the first night, Judy told her testimony.

Judy was the wife of a pastor and camp director. They had two children who were twelve and fourteen when she was widowed through a tragic accident.

She married a machinist and became a stepmother and then was widowed again due to cancer.

Judy is no stranger to heartbreak.

After hearing her testimony, the ladies at the retreat knew that their speaker was not one to spout platitudes.

There is beauty on the painful path, but it is sometimes easier to accept direction towards that beauty from someone who understands how hard it is to look beyond the pain.

Joseph’s story begins with priviledge.

The favored son of a weathy father and the firstborn of that father’s favorite wife, Joseph’s position (and fancy clothes) were the envy of the rest of the family.

Add to that, Joseph gave his father a bad report about his brothers and so he faced a pack of angry brothers who were growning more bitter by the day.

Seemingly oblivious to this, Joseph then waxes eloquent about the prophetic dreams he was having where the family bowed down to him . . . the rest is history.

Attacked, robbed, thrown into a pit, and then sold into slavery by his own family, Joseph’s journey takes a sharp and dark turn.

Joseph chooses trust in God and is tough and resilient enough to thrive in his new position. He works hard where he finds himself until Joseph is in charge of his master’s household. Betrayed and disbelieved, he is sent to prison. Once again, Joseph trusts God and excels. In the end, God uses him to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, provide for the people during a famine, and save his family from starvation.

Judy spoke from the scriptures that tell us Joseph’s story because we often find ourselves on a path that has taken a sharp and dark turn in a direction that seems hopeless.

But despite the horror of his circumstances, Joseph trusted that God was still capable of a mighty work, in Joseph’s life, in the lives of those around him, even in the hearts of the brothers who had sold him into slavery.

Joseph’s confrontation with his brothers when they come to Egypt to beg him for food is such an incredible tale of inner strength, redemption, and grace.

Genesis 45:5–“And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”

Imagine the power of such a trust as Joseph’s. The wisdom to see God at work in the darkest of circumstances. The strength to refuse bitterness and let go of hate. The grace to forgive and dare to show compassion to his tormentors.

It boggles the mind and stirs the heart.

As Judy shared in conclusion, from Psalm 31:15, “My times are in your hands . . .” God is at work, even in the dark, and there is hope for the broken and strength can be ours as we learn from Joseph’s terrible, beautiful life that trusting God is always worth the cost.

Genesis 50:20–“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Boo Boo

P.S. Since some ladies have asked for a copy of the essay on courage that I shared during the retreat and it speaks to some of the hard times that Judy shared during her testimony, I’m including a link to that here. Scraped Off the Bone by Kristen Joy Wilks.