Retreat Rootings

A month ago, I'd be packing for the Create in Me retreat.  I look back and think about how fretful I was about that trip.  I knew that I would have a good time if it was just me alone.  But since I was taking a friend from church for the first time, I spent a good deal of time worrying that she wouldn't have a good time and reminding myself that it wasn't my responsibility to make sure she'd have a good time.  We'd never taken any kind of car trip together, and I worried a bit about that too.

I needn't have worried.  We were good traveling partners, and she had a great time.  She's come home and several times made the bread she learned to make at the retreat.  She's made more space for writing.  The retreat has rooted in her and rooted her.

I am surprised by how quickly the world rushes back to try to grab all of our time.  Life has been feeling hectic. 

Let me reclaim that retreat feeling by thinking back to that retreat.  Let me remember the walks in the chilly mornings with my friend.  Her Fitbit told her that our hilly hikes equaled 17 flights of stairs.

Let me remember the joy of more worship services inserted into our days.  I do my own Liturgy of the Hours, but usually just once a day.  I read the prayers silently to myself.  It's a different experience to worship in a group.

Let me remember how wonderful it was to stretch our minds with Bible studies. I try to do that with my own reading, but it's a great change to have a leader.

I loved the chance to play with art supplies throughout the day.  The tables were always set up in the Faith Center, and it was easy to seize a spare moment here and there.

I loved being in a different environment--the mountains of North Carolina are nothing like the Florida tropics.  But they both feel like home to me.