Our house church is taking a retreat to a cabin in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on the weekend of October 19.
We began preparing for the retreat in earnest a few weeks ago. At the time, we noticed that there were forty days between when we started preparing for the retreat and the retreat itself. There will also be forty days between the retreat weekend and the start of Advent, December 2.
I’m not trying to sound like the author of Matthew or anything, but the timing of the retreat does strike me as significant, especially for the purposes of spiritual formation. Forty day incriminates are perfect for establishing rhythms, for reflection, and for intentionally trying new things. For example, I have started journaling again. By the time the retreat gets here, I will have been at it for forty days.
The six of us are each going into the retreat with a distinct goal in mind. For example, some of us hope to produce a strategic plan document for our life, some of us hope to gain clarity on that elusive question, “What do I really want in life?” And some of us are aiming for an even more elusive goal: relaxation.
We have complied a few tools to help us meet our various goals. These tools mainly focus on heightening our self awareness. They include:
- our detailed Meyers-Briggs profile. (Get questionnaire here.)
- a reading from the popular book, Strengths Finder
- The Five Question Exercise
- Community Values activity
- Twenty Statement Test (TST) asking the question, Who Am I?
- Personal inventory emails, from the book Practicing the Way of Jesus
- The retreat itself!
Our house church meets on Wednesdays. Generally we cook and eat together, do common prayer together, and talk/discuss/hang out together. It has been fun working together to plan this retreat. I think we are all looking forward to it in one way or another.
It is wonderful to have such a great community of people, and such a great rhythm of community, as part of our lives.
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