We retreat to advance -Part One
It was my youth group's Winter Retreat of my Junior year of high school when my electronics were stripped of me and my stubborn reluctance to engage turned into a spiritual connection with God. An older peer ironically made a burned CD for us titled “I Surrender.” It played on repeat in my car CD player for a long time after that. I still have that CD tucked away in a special box.
It was a season of fresh independence and gut wrenching healing. Repairing balm had been kneaded into my wounds, and I was allowing it to do its work. I was in my early 20s, on a weekend long silent retreat in the mountains of Pennsylvania. There I took a walk in the most serene landscape and found the joy of the Holy Spirit which caused me to literally dance through a grove of trees. The silent messy dance marked me, and I carry with me the powerful lesson that stillness is a refuge.
Later in life, my grad school internship was coming to an end, and so was the battle of fighting to love the young boys that had been deemed unlovable by the system, their caregivers, and sometimes even themselves. It was tough work, and I was tired. It was a self-made retreat with a small group of friends that took me to the mountains of Colorado. We hiked in beauty, had some moose scares, and laughed as we reconnected. I embraced the adventure as a welcomed companion. We had gotten a deal on amazing accommodations and each night, I sat in the comfort of a fluffy king bed, thankful for the space to breathe crisp clean air and recover. I came back home reset, my nervous system soothed and feeling hopeful, ready to build a business.
Three distinct seasons of life, and three different reasons to retreat. It was in those early years I was given the structure of how to retreat. It was in my early 20s, in those years of healing, I discovered why Jesus may have gone up to the mountain to be alone. It was later in life I learned I can choose this for myself with community or without. But my soul craves it, and when my sense of self feels crowded out by life, my soul needs it. I retreat to advance.
Transformation money cannot buy, but sometimes we need an experience outside of our everyday, crowded, noisy lives to have a catalyst for change and renewal. So that is why with purposeful intention, Alana and I have curated our retreats to be safe spaces for transformation to take place. The cost reflects the time, intention, resources, great food (of course!), and partnerships cultivated to create a soothing and relaxing atmosphere. Our retreats are spaces for the soul to have room to breathe, and where the Spirit is welcomed to move freely. We make the space for you to have an experience where your awareness isn’t clouded by the to-dos of life. Hopefully this experience of retreating will be a marker, a line in the sand, a touch point, a testimony, or a refreshing that will carry on far beyond our time together.
Blessings!
- In Part Two of the blog, Alana breaks it down for us in more practical terms as she describes the monetary value of what you receive on our retreats. Hope to see you there! -
Image credit: Paul Anderson, https://www.paulandersonphotography.com/the-jesuit-center-wernersville-pa
