Entries from May 2008 ↓

I took a retreat of sorts this weekend. We loaded the family in our tiny Toyota and drove half a day to Victoria, Texas, and then the Hebron Cemetery just outside the small community of Yoakum. (Yoakum is semi-famous for the Double D Ranch clothing.)

I’m not sure I expected it to be a retreat, but that’s what happened. I left the computer at home and retreated from the net. This is something I haven’t done in a long, long time.

More than that, our trip to the Hebron Cemetery was a retreat from the breakneck pace of life.

Tomorrow’s deadlines don’t seem so cosmically important when I’m standing at the grave of Rev. W. P. Carroll. He was born in 1936. He brought the cedar trees that tower over the cemetery now. (You can see the trunk of one growing up right next to his tombstone.) And W. P. built Hebron Baptist Church where the Carroll family worships every Decoration Sunday before they eat on the grounds with sawhorse tables and cold potluck dishes like homemade whitetail sausage, pinto beans, broccoli salads, and fresh dewberry cobbler if the weather’s been right.

The weather wasn’t right this year. Dewberry’s were still red. And the lovebugs were out something fierce. Walking around the cemetery with my daughter, Carroll, we fought the bugs in our hair, on our arms, on our faces, in our ears, on our clothes. We retreated to the car, me laughing, her screaming, only to find that the bugs followed us into the car.

Speaking of bugs, I found my muse again and wrote a poem about the bugs. That’s what happens when I experience retreat. On retreats, I see the glory of the creation. On retreats, I remember that I’ve been created in the image of a Creator. On retreats, I find my muse again, and feel the Spirit breathing again into all of the ordinary places of my life.

The Spirit always breathes in the ordinary places of my life, but retreats help me remember how to feel that breath.

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A special note to readers: This post is part of the HighCallingBlogs.com Group Writing Project “retreat, retreat, retreat,” sponsored by Laity Lodge. As part of their sponsorship, Laity Lodge is offering a 25% discount to all readers of High Calling Blogs for three retreats. (Just ask for the “HighCallingBlogs.com discount.”)

If you are a blogger, participate in the writing project yourself for an even bigger discount, plus a chance to win a FREE retreat if you get your post ready before our drawing on Friday, May 9, at noon Central Time.

Full disclosure: Since Laity Lodge is a sister program of TheHighCalling.org and HighCallingBlogs.com, I’m going to be discussing the three retreat options in the coming days. Here they are if you’d like to explore yourself before then:

• Musical Conversations with Buddy Greene and Company

  May 29-June 1 (Thursday-Sunday)
  Explore relevant questions of living faithfully in today’s world with singer/songwriter Buddy Greene, writer David Dark, and musician Sarah Masen.
  + Raku Japanese pottery with Larry Matthews

• Conversations with Marva Dawn and Mark D. Roberts

  June 5-8 (Thursday-Sunday)
  Discuss practical implications of God’s timeless truth with author/theologian Marva Dawn, author/blogger Mark D. Roberts, and jazz musician Charlie Peacock.
  + lessons in oil, acrylic, and water color; Raku Japanese pottery; and tennis!

• Conversations with Dave and Jan Stoop - Couples’ Retreat

  July 10-13 (Thursday-Sunday)
  Refresh and enrich your marriage with scriptural truths for everyday challenges couples face, featuring Dan and Jan Stoop and 2006 Australian Artist of the Year Nathan Tasker.
  + lessons in wood sculpture, precious metals, and pottery

Susan prompted me in the comment section. We’ve almost got the email ready to go out to High Calling Bloggers, but here’s a preview:

Win a FREE Retreat!

I’m pretty excited about this! This month’s Group Writing Project is sponsored by Laity Lodge, and they are offering us some big discounts and prizes. Here’s what we’ve got on the table:

• 50% off selected retreats for participating members of HighCallingBlogs.com.
• 25% off for YOUR READERS if they mention HighCallingBlogs.com.
• AND one blogger will win a FREE retreat for a married couple or an individual.

The discounts are worth $75-$400 depending on which retreat and which discount. And the free retreat is worth $390 to $780 depending on whether you come as an individual or a married couple.

Since we aren’t quite ready to send the email to our bloggers, here’s the actual writing project for people who want to get a headstart. We’ve got a quick turnaround on this because our first retreat option comes at the beginning of June. So you have to post by Friday at noon to be entered in the drawing for the FREE retreat. (ALL CAPS ARE FUN!)

Write About the Importance of Retreating

This month we’re writing about the importance of retreat. Getting away. Doing the Walden thing to simplify, simplify, simplify. Learning to hear the still, small voice of God.

I’m not just talking about vacations. I’m not even just talking about short term mission trips. (Those things can be a kind of retreat though.)

I’m talking about Elijah in the wilderness with ravens. I’m talking about Jesus in the garden early in the morning. I’m talking about L’abri. And Yaddo. And Walden. And that Tom Hanks movie where he’s stuck on the island talking to a soccer ball.

Well, maybe not that last one. But you get the idea.

Write about the importance of retreat. If possible, think of a specific retreat you took. Where was it? What happened? What did you learn about yourself and your identity? What did you learn about the world and your priorities? What did you learn about the heavens and the person of God? (Don’t feel compelled to answer all of these questions. They’re just to get the juices flowing.)

L. L. Barkat, author of the new book Stone Crossings, even made some cool logos for the writing project that you can use in your post..

Because Laity Lodge is sponsoring the writing project, we ask that you link to them. And Chris Cree is compiling all of the entries at his blog SuccessCreeations. If you want to be included in that list, you’ll need to link to him too so he’ll know to add you.

In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that Laity Lodge and HighCallingBlogs.com both fall under the umbrella of the H. E. Butt Foundation where I work. That’s how we got them to sponsor the writing project. It’s also how I know that Laity Lodge is really the most incredible retreat center I’ve ever been to. And I’ve been to a bunch of them… Nothing beats swimming in the headwaters of the crystal clear Frio River bubbling up in a deep water hole between cliff walls. (You can see a picture of the stairway down to Blue Hole in the bottom of the picture above.)

So, members of HighCallingBlogs.com, watch for that email in a bit. Bloggers who might be interested in what we do, now is a good time to join the network! And readers of GoodWordEditing.com, you can receive 25% off the Buddy Greene retreat, the Marva Dawn/Mark D. Roberts Retreat, and the Couples retreat, just because you read my blog.

Check back for details on getting your discount in just a bit. I’ve got to go edit a Eugene Petersen video for a minute. Too many hats this week…