I leave this afternoon for a four day silent retreat. This is the third time in four years I have gone on this type of journey. I will be meeting with a director 3-4 times, but most of the time will be in silence.   Not all retreats are structured like this one. Why do I go? I find as the days progress on this type of retreat all the internal noise – voices from the world, my ego and from others – finally fade and I can hear God clearly and deeply. I allow myself to rest in His arms and just be with Him. So often in my everyday life, I get so distracted and rushed – this becomes a very special time. I am lifting up prayers for discernment for my next step within the ELCA Associate in Ministry program, where do I best put my time and efforts in writing and for clarity for the lessons God has been putting on my heart lately about my willfulness and pride.   I am a firm believer in keeping a journal and usually fill up many pages on this type of retreat. Rereading or … [Read more...]

Companions for the Journey I love this painting of the Emmaus Road.  Two friends walking together down the path  of life with Jesus beside them. Who is your companion on your journey? Some will answer that question by saying Jesus is their companion. Others will reply besides Jesus, they share their faith stories with family and friends. In addition, others grow by speaking with a spiritual director. In my program to become a spiritual director we had the assignment to pick someone from history, a spiritual giant, to study with for two years. There is so much we can learn from studying others who came before us. I am not a fan of the word “spiritual giants” since these people are humans with weaknesses, difficulties and even poor decision making. Saints were not super humans, but in reality they were flawed and sinful just like us. But somehow they kept running that race; their lives reflect what we wish for, what we desire most deeply and the direction in which we are headed … [Read more...]

Core Word - Nurture Nurture is one of my core words. Core words describe a movement, an identity, and something deep within our DNA that drives all of our passions and needs. We spend a lifetime searching for these core words and it is an adventure to explore and discover them. In 2009 I finally was able to put a label a deep part of my soul: nurture. As a young child I knew I wanted to be a writer. As a daughter of a physician, I was often asked, “Do you want to be nurse when you grow up?”  “No!” I would emphatically say with a stomp of my foot. When I was 16, I heard God clearly calling me to be a nurse and I have never regretted following that vocation. I buried my first call to write, though across my adult years I dabbled in speaking and writing. I do believe I followed God on the path He wanted me to go in health care. Yet I always thought the two were separate until this year. Two years I retired from fulltime public health nursing and God began opening doors once … [Read more...]