Today I am of the first of a three day retreat. It is a time for me to put together some plans and ideas for the upcoming school year and get myself ready for everything that is coming up.
So my retreat has taken me to Nebraska. I drove out here yesterday and will start working my way back tomorrow. I met up with my mom here, visited the cemetery where dad is, and picked up some Cornhusker gear for Sierra.
As I was driving around the family farm, looking at the corn growing and seeing the trees that dad and I planted a year and half ago, I started thinking about roots - about where we come from and how that impacts who we are and the gifts we have been given.
My dad was always a farm boy at heart. He loved to work with his hands, dig up the dirt, and watch things grow. I do not have the green thumb that he had, but part of this has rubbed off on me. I like to plant and watch things grow as well - but not necessarily plants and flowers. For me, it is helping to plant the seeds of faith and encouraging those seeds to grow. My gifts are more in the area of spiritual growth rather than plant growth.
So as I continue on this retreat, I will be spending time asking God to open my eyes to the ways that I can continue to help others grow in their spiritual journeys, and I pray that you may see the good gifts you have inherited from others and find ways to share those blessings with others.
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I have sometimes thought it strange, each new year, when the Church Board goes on a "retreat."
In military terms, this appears to be an admission of weakness. I mean, shouldn't we be continuing, always, to move forward?
But, I have come to realize the necessity of retreating, moving away from daily concerns, and taking time to meditate, to consider which way to go forward. It's rather like retooling, or refreshing the inner spirit, so that when you do move forward again, it is with renewed vigor and scope.
My widowed sister is a quilter. However, since the death three years ago of her husband of 50 years, she has not made a one. When I saw that Lutherdale has a "Quilter's Retreat" in October for four days, I thought immediately of my sister. I don't quilt, but what a wonderful opportunity for some sisterly comfort and retooling.
I wrote her a letter, sent along the information about the retreat, and she was so excited about it that she called me, a rare happening. Yesterday I sent off our reservation, after calling over to Lutherdale to make sure there were still openings. It's limited to 40. I am so looking forward to it.
My sister and I will receive instructions before we go about what supplies to bring along, as we work on our own quilting project during the retreat. Who knows, maybe I will catch the "quilting bug." More importantly, however, will be the time I will have with my sister and the communion we will have with other sisters in Christ. What better setting for a "retreat" than in the woods, along the lakeshore of Lutherdale.
I pray today for retreat time for all. In this world of faster and faster, we all need time to reconsider, retool and refresh.
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