Have you ever felt the need to get away from it all?
Have you ever had to chose whether to take some time away or keep pressing on?
Which way did you decide to go?
What happened as a result?
HighCallingBlogs Group Writing Project
This month we’re hosting the HighCallingBlogs Group Writing project here at SuccessCREEations, Inc.
We’re going to take the next few weeks to share some of we learned learned from a time when we decided to get away for a while, or from a time when we decided not to get away (but maybe we thought we should have).
Win Your Own Retreat
Laity Lodge is sponsoring the Group Writing Project this month. That means they are doing 3 things for those who decide to enter a blog post.
- 50% OFF FOR YOU – selected retreats for any participant in this group writing project. (You don’t have to be a member of HighCallingBlogs.com, but we hope you’ll consider it.)
- 25% OFF FOR YOUR READERS – Anyone who reads your blog can register for 25% off. When they call to register, they need to ask for “the HighCallingBlogs.com discount.”
- A FREE RETREAT – On Friday, May 9, at noon Central Time, we’re going to put the names of this Group Writing Project’s participants in a hat and draw one out. The winner gets a free retreat for a married couple or an individual. Marcus will announce the winners that afternoon
How to Enter
To enter for your chance to win, or to just participate in the writing project you need to do three things:
- Write up a blog post on the importance of retreat
- Link to the sponsor, Laity Lodge
- And also link to this post so I know to include your post in the list of submissions that will be accumulating right here.
We’ll also post a link to your post over at HighCallingBlogs.com!
Update: Mark pulled a winner for the free retreat! Check out the video to see who one. But just because the winner has been chosen doesn’t mean that the project is over because we can all still be winners. Remember you can still get 50% off of selected retreats just for submitting your blog post to this group writing project and your readers can still get 25% off. So if you’re like me and haven’t submitted a post yet, there’s still time to be included. Keep writing!
- Journeys by L.L. Barkat shows us that they can sometimes “Turn things upside down and sideways. Take us away, only to bring us home with a new perspective.“
- Only the Strong Retreat and Surrender by Kathy Hansen, sharing with us a quiet moment alone on a porch.
- Sacred Ingress by Carl Holmes reminds us of the overpowering scale that can be found at the edge of a powerful ocean.
- Retreat to Appreciate by L.L. Barkat reminds us of the transcending beauty of nature that longs to be appreciated.
- A Listening Prayer by Gordon Atkinson points out the simplicity and value of being quiet and listening to the world around us for a time. (And it just so happens the moment he described happened on my birthday a few years back!)
- Retreat – Get a Handle on God’s Design by Marcus Goodyear holds up a warning sign to church folk who get all caught up in tidy rules instead of the complex reality. Getting a way for a while can help us maintain our balance.
- Asleep I Sang With the Body of Christ in Retreat by Samuel Adams (I’m sorry but that’s a totally cool name!) points out the difference between a retreat and a vacation. It never occurred to me that they may not be the same thing.
- Retreat by Tina Howard shares about a time she set some time aside to decompress with a group that was preparing to head overseas.
- The Power of Retreat by Robert Hruzek gives us an example of how attending a retreat might totally change the direction of our lives as it led to Robert meeting his wife. For me this post was especially interesting because Gorgeous and I met at a singles retreat ourselves. Funny how things work out sometimes.
- Retreat Retreat Reretreat… at Home by Mary DeMuth reminds us that sometimes just breaking our normal routine can be as refreshing as getting away somewhere.
- Monastic Practices for Modern Christians by J. Dodson describes a place where he used to retreat when he lived in Boston. Now that he’s in Austin he’s looking for someplace similar. Anyone got any ideas for him?
- Retreats, why? by Gerrard Fess offers a fabulous top 10 list of the benefits of getting away for a bit.
- Come! Charge! Retreat! by Robin Bryce makes a good point that retreating is a contingency that any battle plan should allow for.
- Celebrating My Recessive Retreat Gene by Tom Petersen is a great post explaining the difference between laziness and a retreat. Tom got me laughing. Something about mud…
- Secure Your Own Mask First by Cheryl Smith brings up the reality that we won’t be much help to others if we don’t care for ourselves. Cheryl offers some good suggestions on how to maximize your time away.
- Colossians and Creation by Heather Goodman recounts a time of reflection while sitting on a bench in the woods near some water.
- It’s God Who Draws Us to Retreat by A. Anjeanette Brown shares some insights from going on a trip as well as ideas on how to retreat when life’s demands wont let you go to someplace new.
- ~Retreat, Retreat, Retreat~ by Duane Smith reveals how conversation can develop when we get away long enough to listen.
- The Symbol on the Rock by Brandon Satrom shows us a glimpse of remarkable beauty found at 12,000 feet one day.
- Retreat Retreat Retreat by Sally Ferguson is a confession of a retreat junkie. Sally shares some new things she learned one time at Mount Rainier.
- The Get Away by David Rupert points out that we’ve got a tremendous example before us of one who made regular time away a part of his life.
- Value in Getting Away by Yours Truly where I share how I learned down time is important after years without any vacations.
That picture. Heavenly. Makes me want to be in the boat right now. (With someone else manning the oars, I’ll admit. : )
Interesting… What’s the timeframe though – do they need to be in by the 9th? By the time I’ve posted it I don’t think my readers will have time to respond
Joanna
Joanna, you and your readers can take advantage of the discount up to the time of the retreat. The deadline is only if you want to be eligible for the drawing for the free retreat.
L.L., And I hear the bugs in Texas are nothing like they are here in Savannah. That alone would be a little slice of heaven to me.
Joanna, Like Mark said, that deadline is only for the discount & free retreat. And it is kinda fast, unfortunately.
But we’ll keep the group writing project going throughout the month to let folks have time to put their posts together.
Interesting idea. I kinda thought this post was about something else, but cool none the less.
Tara, Curious to know what you expected. Just the same I’m glad you stopped by and left us a comment. Thanks.
Just wanted to share my post with you.
Hope ya’ll like it.
-Sam
Oh, it’s here… http://samwrites2.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/asleep-i-sang-with-the-body-of-christ-in-retreat/
My post is up about creating retreat in your home through observing the sabbath in a freedom-filled way. Here’s the permalink: http://relevantblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/retreat-retreat-retreat-at-home.html
I actually wrote it when I lived in France, then remembered how well it would fit into our theme.
Heya Mary! Added your post to the list. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Don’t get too excited about the Texas non-bug situation. When we get mosquitoes, we get mosquitoes. And, oh, the red ants!
My retreat post is up–good timing, too. My husband and I went camping with friends this past weekend, always a good retreat for me.
Heather, We’ve got the fire ants here in Savannah too.
Our mosquito problem isn’t so bad. But we’ve got these nasty biting sand gnats that swarm you and get all up in your scalp…
When I saw the title, I laughed at my first thougts. They weren’t cushy, retreat like. My post is now up at http://robinbryce.com/
That was fun.
I think I forgot to post the link to my retreat post. Sorry!
http://heatheragoodman.com/content/colossians-and-creation
Trackback didn’t seem to work… my post is the main post at http://brandonsatrom.com
This is my first time participating in a group writing project. I hope I followed the steps correctly!
I’m an idiot. I forgot to put the stuff about Laity Lodge in my post. It’s up there now. Sorry.
http://heatheragoodman.com/content/colossians-and-creation
I was so excited to get the opportunity to write and express what retreat means to me.
Thanks.
daune, pronounced Dawn!
The real link, now that I’m back at my desk…
http://brandonsatrom.com/2008/05/09/the-symbol-on-the-rock/
Our retreat reflections are found over at
http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2008/05/get-away.html
Thanks for the reminder. I’m going to the park this afternoon, fishing this weekend, and hopefully someplace exotic — like Iowa — soon!
Holy Moley! I won!!!! Wow, this is ‘waaaay better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, Marcus!
No, seriously, Mrs. MZM and I are really psyched about this. Gee… on the other hand, now we hafta make a decision… hmmm….
Whoops! Chris – I meant Chris!
Heya Robert! Congratulations! And I didn’t have anything to do with it. Wasn’t even my hat!
What a great opportunity for a hard worker to have a well deserved break! A good work life balance is essential to remain fresh and continue to develop great ideas. Good luck to everyone who enters!
everyone needs a break, give your self a break, a way to relax and recharge for more hard work ahead
That’s really good picture …. I too want to go like that in boat in lonely place…. To retreat ourselves we have to take rest then only we can to do the more hard work…Thank you for great blog…Once again thanks for sharing the picture..
Thanks for information.May be i will go .
Thnaks