Silent Retreat

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I will be beginning a twenty-four hour silent retreat... just me and God- no phones, no computers, no church work, no work work!

When I tell my friends that I'll be doing this- their first reaction is, "better you than me". Even my (Latham) pastor tells me that of our large congregation, he can only think of about three people that could handle silence for that length of time- one of those was me, one other was him. My friends are supportive though, and all have offered to be covering me in prayer throughout the twenty-four hours.

What will this retreat look like? Why the heck am I doing it? Well, the first question is the easier of the two to answer.... my time (at CtK- my Greenwich church), will be largely unstructured. I'll be bringing my Bibles, a notebook, and my watercolor paints (God has been speaking to me quite loudly thorough my paintings lately). I'll spend my time in prayer, in quiet and listening, in reading, in painting and in resting. The twenty-four hours will end with private communion with Father Nigel. Following that, I'll head home to get a few hours of rest, and then head back up with Jeanne and Debbie for an evening Taize service. Why am I doing this??? That question isn't quite as easy to answer... I think the bottom line is that God is leading me to this- I am simply being obedient. Beyond that, I am needing time and quiet to find some answers that I may or may not discover in my silence. I have also been VERY stressed with the many things I have going on with church lately (watch for a post next week about the "First Annual Calvary All- Church Woman's Retreat"). Yesterday, I counted my meetings lately- with the exception of the next two days in Greenwich, I will have had meetings or church events for twenty three consecutive days!!! Yes, I'm needing a break right now. So the time in Greenwich, (where I will be leaving my retreat folder and work at home) will give me the time away to refresh and renew, so that I will come back to the church events with a new energy and faith.

I guess that was a long way of saying that I expect (pray) the next two days will be a time of spiritual renewal for me- more specifically a time to re-commit to God. I'll report back on Thursday afternoon. Prayers please, kind people?