“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” Jeremiah 31:25 NIV

October is upon us, and my heart is longing to be up at Zephyr Point with friends and ministry colleagues at the annual Ethnic Concerns Consultation Conference. Of course, due to restrictions, the conference has been postponed to next year for the safety of staff and participants. This has been a year of canceled plans, and I have been thinking a lot about how this affects our spiritual lives. You know how you don’t fully know how thirsty you are until you have a sip of water? Our spiritual lives can be like that. We have been wandering through the proverbial desert of 2020. Maybe what we need is to stay awhile at the oasis with God.

Yesterday, I was grateful to be able to join my dear friend for an at-home-spiritual-retreat hosted by the PCUSA. We shared in centering prayer, a gratitude walk, story writing and sharing, and techniques for building emotional resilience. It was just what I needed! I was amazed at how much a few hours spent focusing on my spiritual life could shift my perspective and make me feel refreshed.

What do you need for your very own at-home-retreat?

1. Time: Decide how much time you want to devote. A retreat should leave you feeling refreshed, so it should allow a respite from your daily activities, but longer isn’t necessarily better!
2. Openness: Be open to connecting with God in a variety of ways and to the possibility of being refreshed and renewed.
3. Creativity: A retreat is a great opportunity to try a practice you haven’t tried before or something that gets you out of your comfort zone.
4. Space: Allow yourself to be comfortable to eliminate distractions. Do you focus better in silence or with meditative music? Do you prefer to light a candle?

That’s it! The rest is up to you and the sky’s the limit!