It looks like a secluded spot alone with God. Or taking a walk in the woods.
A retreat finds you away from your ordinary, everyday environment.
It gives you space both in mind and body to enjoy the beauty around you.
A retreat might even include overnight accomodations!
No matter the situation, God will always shine His light.
(pictures taken during my recent retreat at The Shack)
In Retreat Reflections I began sharing a bit about this book:
Invitations to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton.
During my quiet times at the serene picturesque retreat I observed my setting:
The sun glistens on the water in front of me as the birds sing their song behind my head. I can hear the wind dancing through the trees before it stops to cool my body.
It’s hard to be still and not have an agenda. My heart presses for more knowledge of God – to read more – to learn more – to do more. Yet my head knows I need to stay still and allow God to direct me.
Out of the corner of my eye I see the swans appear in the bay. I wonder if they are as annoyed as I am at the jet skier which breaks the serenity of my moment. My eye follows the graceful movements of the swans and I notice an apprentice. One not quite as big and not quite as white. But the apprentice follows the example set out before him. And as he grows, he will continue to reflect the image of his father.
What a sweet lesson in this serene moment. I wish I had my camera!
2 Corinthians 3:18: And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
After reading more of my journal I came across this quote near the end of the book:
“Solitude does not consist only in creating perfect conditions outside myself… [but I noticed] the quietness of solitude and silence was becoming an inner condition within which I was to recognize and respond to the stirring, the voice, the very Presence of God himself.”
An inner condition.
ooo… I think I need more practice!
Often we think of solitude and silence in perfect settings, the best conditions, somewhere far away from here.
But in the author encourages us to practice times of quiet where ever we find ourselves and for whatever time we have. The author talks about struggling to make it just 10 minutes. Can you give up a few minutes just to sit and breathe to seek the Presence of God? Knowing that it will cultivate an “inner condition” in which I can find solitude in my un-silent world – Yes – I will strive to create a daily practice.
Re-entry.
It’s hard coming back to reality after being away.
Last week I spent precious moments with God at a retreat. The scene was perfect. Beautiful environment, bountiful library, spacious lodge, areas set up just for sitting quietly. My parents had the kids. My hubby and I had two full days to do nothing but connect with God and each other.
After a week of rest, one would think I would have new perspective and an arsenal of peace to handle the typical everyday pressures of motherhood.
But on Saturday, at the first sight of not-so-perfect conditions, I lost it.
The day went wrong from the very beginning. Instead of spending some quiet time with God while the kids were watching Saturday morning TV, I checked email and did internet research. Not exactly the best way to fuel my mind for the long day ahead.
The One I know to bring life to my life I pushed away.
Really?
Can you be too annoyed, too angry, too sad for God?
Why would I avoid the One who could give me strength to get through the day?
For the most part, I kept myself together for the duration of the day. However, toward the end of the day I found myself in the middle of a grocery store with two out of control girls running through aisles, throwing unnecessary items in the cart and screaming with delight because their mom was letting them get away with it. I knew I had lost it when I grabbed a cheesecake (with NO intention to share) and the Duncan Hines milk chocolate frosting to spoon off the craziness of my day.
The day ended with the arrival of my hubby after Saturday night church and I escaped. How? Bed and TV. What else? I had already eaten the cheesecake, as well as chips that daughter #2 had thrown into the cart as well as the fresh bread daughter #1 had confiscated. Did the sweets, salts, carbs or TV make me feel any better? No. In fact, it made me feel even worse.
I don’t know if the day would have been any better if I had opened the Word, but I do know that my soul would have had an underlying peace to help me endure.
I can totally relate to Paul when he writes in Romans chapter 7:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:15,18-19,22-25
I pray today that I can learn how to be still when the world around me is not so still.
This post gave me great insight as well as Listening through the Noise at Surviving Motherhood.
How are you handling your everyday?
Fill in the blank. You know it don’t you? But how often do we really follow the command?
This blog started a year ago with Push the Reset Button. The post is all about taking a spiritual retreat. Next week my husband and I will retreat again.
Ahhh… I can’t wait for the quiet, the peace, the time for just God and me (oh, yeah, hubby too!).
Yesterday I read a bloggy friend’s post about SINKING. It’s all about Psalm 46 ~ Be still and Know…. Please take a quick read, you’ll thank me!
How can you fit in a mini-retreat before the month of July ends?
God is great.
God is good.
Let us thank Him
for our food. Amen
Have you prayed that sweet child-like prayer before?
It might be sweet and we might teach it to children, but this prayer is beyond our understanding.
“Let us thank God for our food.” Do you know where your dinner last night came from? You probably purchased it at the grocery store, or at a local eatery…
My dinner - lasagna. Bought ingredients at store. Money came from odd and end jobs, not the normal monthly income (we ran out of that money yesterday).
My point? I know where my food came from… I didn’t have to pray that God would feed my family tonight. But, yet, we thank God in prayer each night AS IF He supplied our need.
Ultimately, I KNOW that God provides. He blesses our family with jobs which pay the bills (most of the time). And I do believe that God is truly in control. However, I don’t truly rely on Him like I should.
Why do I tell you this?
Last weekend I had to rely on God more than ever. I led a retreat with all new material. I planned and researched with plenty of time to prepare… but things didn’t come together as normal.
So as the days got closer my stomach felt sicker and my nerves grew thinner. I knew I was doing every “right”. I knew God would come through. But I’ve never been so close to the edge with just prayer to hold on to. I was scared and exhilarated all at the same time.
It was amazing to watch how God orchestrated every detail.
Every detail was perfectly arranged. And NONE of us could say we planned it that way. It was ALL Him. And I love that! I love living under His wing. And I want to learn how to live like that each and every day!
Don’t you love a good reset button? You might find one on a video game that you love to play, but just somehow can’t get past level 1. Or maybe you push that small round reset button after watching your bowling ball struggle to topple all the pins over. Regardless of where you use it, you’ll always experience a fresh start. I pushed the reset button with God this week! Did you know He has one? Continue reading ‘Push the reset button!’
