Women's Retreat

On Friday, I left behind my worries, responsibilities and technology to go on retreat.  Every year I try to take one full weekend to be with my Lord - cloistered away from everyone and everything and just to focus on Him.  This year I went on my first women’s retreat and my first silent retreat; thus, I found myself unable to talk for three days and forced to listen (as Elijah) to the still small voice of God.  The retreat’s theme was on “Women of the Bible” and we had five great talks on five different (but very faithful and loving) women of the New Testament…  We followed the usual format of spiritual growth talks, Mass, Adoration and time for reconciliation.  While the location didn’t have grounds for walking it did have a glass wall in the living room area and one of the best moments of mine was just sitting very still looking outside while it rained.  A family of hummingbirds kept me rather amused for in the rain they kept fighting over placement on a bird feeder.  I concluded that these peculiar birds had to be California natives for I have never seen birds flying in the rain, feathers soaked!  We rarely get rain here and these feathered creatures were as excited to be out in the rain as I was of just being able to enjoy the splashing of the sky waters purifying the ground.  When I was a child my momma would tell us to look intensely at the splashes the rain created and to tell her when we saw the dancing lovers and to this day when I look at raindrops hitting the ground I see the feet of lovers’ tap dancing (smile).

During the retreat I also happened upon a book in the library The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul.  I greedily went through half of the book during my stay mesmerized by the depth of her spirituality – I envied her connection to God and her remembrance of Him during her entire life- even as a child!  What a great gift to know your vocation so clearly and so early in life.  She followed me the entire weekend challenging me to conversion, asking me to become a child in God’s hands and to trust with abandonment in He who created me. I enjoyed submerging in her simple life and her romantic use of language – to see her struggles; yet, never feeding into negativity, to discover her courage in following the will of God and to see her vulnerability in her earthly journey really inspired me.  Her devotion to prayer and her desire to intimately know Jesus guided me and motivated me to pray more, to desire Jesus more and to be a child above all in God’s arms.

The crazy Californian's...

The retreat also encouraged me to create a plan for Lent, to focus on the liturgical time that approaches as a time to die to self and in turn receive more of Christ.  It gave me the opportunity to sit for a while and truly consider not leaving Jesus out of Lent or out of Easter…  It’s important to take time to be alone with God to offer at least one weekend and to let Him find you and to guide you to where He wants you to be.  When you two meet He will pour Himself into you and give you everything you are lacking in addition to the strength to press on (smile).           

Casual Sunday Retreat Style.