Retreat

We were blessed this weekend with the opportunity for a retreat with all three Rieppers, our mentors and director. It was only from Friday evening to Saturday evening, but it was a wonderful chance to get away, spend some time together with each other and with God, and reflect deeply on the love that permeates every aspect of our lives. We created a piece of art expressing how we view love, read from Scripture, created candles and reflected on the process, took a walk in nature to reflect, read a lot, wrote a lot, and shared a lot. It was a wonderfully peaceful weekend.

Retreats have always been one of my favorite things, everyone needs a chance to step back, relax, reflect, and find peace. And there's always something so deeply enriching about spending special time with and sharing pieces of yourself with others. It always reminds me that there are threads that bind us all together, we are never alone whether it be in our struggles or in our joy.

I'll share a couple of pictures below of the weekend. We were asked to create a piece of art focusing on the word love and how we view it. After meditating on the word for a few minutes I was struck with this: Little Ordinary Vibrant Expressions. That's what love means to me. It's not always about the big, obvious expressions of love. I've learned especially since being here that love can be entirely wrapped up in the little ordinary interactions like a smile, sitting and talking with someone for a little while, a laugh or a hug from one of my kids, just merely being there for someone. I've always known these little things were expressions of love, but the true power of them, the vibrancy, is something I've comefully appreciate recently.

My art and a wooden rose given to us as a reminder of this weekend, and the love in our lives.

My sand candle

Taking some time in nature, and it decided to snow :)