In a line of the Christmas song, “Do you hear what I hear?” we sing that the child, sleeping in the night, will bring us goodness and light. This echoes the very heart of God in creation. The first thing God brought forth was light and called it good. It seems fitting to look for these when we are discerning where Christ has been in our midst.
As we look back over the past year of operations at The Retreat House, we want to remember and celebrate the sightings of goodness and light. They have been abundant, simple, miraculous, and steady.
We welcomed Dr. Kevin Shelby to The Retreat House leadership team! It is hard to adequately describe the gift he is to this place. His gifts and strengths as a counselor and teacher have impacted many who have stepped through the doors this year. His wisdom, kindness, and clear communication have truly benefited our team.
We had our first cabin stay! Missionaries home from Lebanon were looking for retreat and respite from serving on the field. Even a winter storm and no running water could not stop them from coming to enjoy a time of connection and rest.
We had several unique offerings; a Rule of Life workshop, a retreat for college students, half day silent retreats, and our first month of open hours. Open Hours have been such a mark of God in our midst. During open hours, people from all walks of life and from all over our city came to enjoy a cup of coffee and a quiet space without worrying about a financial obligation.
The Lent retreat was incredibly well received. People have been interested in experiencing the liturgical seasons and have found value in teaching and resources to guide them. We plan to keep offering themed, specialty retreats with these elements throughout the year.
We had even more cabin stays! The winter is such a cozy time to enjoy the cabin with its log beams, wood burning fireplace, and luxury bedding. It is a beautiful way to slow down with the winter season.
We gave lots of tours! We are grateful for every bit of interest and connection that helped word spread and grow the village of participants and supporters of The Retreat House.
We introduced monthly themes to set intentions and narrow our focus as we were creating content and planning retreats. The theme for March was surrender, so we geared our teachings and energies toward this idea.
We hosted our first private retreat which was tailored to the vision of the client! She had a beautiful idea to celebrate her birthday with friends, connecting over flower arranging and then sharing silence together.
The month continuned to be filled with private retreats and space rentals. Helping groups, that already know one another, plan thoughtful retreats and get to spend time with each other and with God is one of our favorite things to do!
We offered a self guided retreat on Good Friday for people to walk the Stations of the Cross. This was a creative venture! We set up the stations in a meaningful way around the property and created prompts for reflection. It turned out to be beautiful, sunny weather, and it was powerful to see people arrive all throughout the day to prayerfully walk this path.
Seeing things bloom all over the property brought beauty, life, and hope. This helped us really embrace the theme for April- Presence. There is much to do in order to care for a 10 acre property and each season presents new challenges. Britney and Michael Christie, Lacey and Adam Stluka, and Brad and Alicia Glover, were the property warriors. Keeping the grass, weeds, plants, lighting, leaves, and bugs in check.
It was a steady month of seeing new people come out and experience half day silent retreats, sessions of counseling, coaching, and spiritual direction, and cabin stays.
The Retreat House officially turned 1! We celebrated the day that God provided for us to close on the property and start this work. We were so encouraged with all of the messages and excitement!
The month started with our first somatic offering, a chance to focus on the body. Our friend, Jess Peeler, led participants through a morning of movement, mindful walking, prayer, and somatic education. This helped us lean into our May theme of anchoring in a truly embodied way.
With help from our property advisor, Jim Wilson, and some volunteers from the local company, DCI, we were able to literally blaze new trails in the woods. These have been enjoyed by many ever since!
We offered our first online opportunity called Content Conversations. These were formational webinars with focuses on anchoring, delight in parenting, and gratitude. They were rich in content and for that reason intense to prepare!
Our Pentecost retreat, a time to honor the gift of the Holy Spirit, was another themed, liturgical opportunity that was well received. The seasons of the church calendar provide such good rhythms for growth and groundedness.
This month also held our first two week long intensive for an individual looking for a chance to retreat and receive care in an extended way. We learned that intensives bring all the elements of The Retreat House together in a collaborative way and have a significant and lasting impact on the participant.
May gave us the great gift of a summer intern! God’s crossing of our path with Katy Rodell will forever be one of the biggest blessings of the year. She loved and served for the summer months, and we hope to continue working alongside her in the days to come.
This month kicked off with an evening event inviting participants to savor! With charcuterie boards, specialty drinks, and conversation cards, this picnic style night was full of fun and connection.
We also pioneered our first evening workshop. These two hour blocks of teaching, discussion, and practice were opportunities for learning and growth.
Even with summer schedules ramping up, God provided moment by moment making it possible for many to still come and enjoy the grounds of The Retreat House. In order to make our half day retreats accessible and feasible for all we developed a summer format with a more flexible ending time and a BYOL (bring your own lunch) option-this seemed to work well.
We offered a retreat to students preparing to transition to college! This was a joy. They spent a day getting to know themselves, their strengths, passions, and gifts, and getting to more deeply know the God who loves them and goes with them wherever they go.
Our themed retreat focused on the practice of Visio Divina. This way of sacred seeing opens up opportunities for God to speak time and time again. Integrating carefully chosen, beautiful art pieces invited participants to engage the right hemisphere of the brain while connecting with God.
As interest in somatic offerings continued to increase we offered a somatic regulation workshop giving tools and further education for how to work with the brain and nervous system when experiencing anxiety.
We hosted several ministries and churches that we love and cherish. Seeing ministry leaders come out to The Retreat House and receive care or spend time connecting with each other is a dream realized.
We also hosted a retreat for the incoming freshmen girls from Westminster Academy. This time together nurtured their relationships with one another as well as helping them learn how they are uniquely wired and how God cares for them deeply.
We offered another somatic integration workshop that helped people learn how to connect the wisdom of the body’s messages and relate it to our relationship with God.
Our themed retreat in September focused on the practice of Lectio Divina. We loved teaching this ancient tool to help people connect with God and meditate on Scripture. Embracing the theme of “journey” as we journeyed through God’s Word together.
Cabin stays, session work, and space rentals were steady and growing! We are learning all sorts of ways to curate people’s time in the cabin to be restful, intentional, and restorative.
The month kicked off with an Enneagram workshop that supported people in learning their type and dive into the gifts and challenges of that.
Fall brought cooler temps, which was a relief. The Retreat House AC was struggling, but held on long enough to get us through the warmer months.
We hosted larger, outdoor groups during the prime weather.
Our annual fundraiser was worshipful and celebratory as we shared an evening of delicious bites from The Kitchen Table, stories of God’s faithfulness, and songs of worship led by Jacob Newcomb and Grant Ellis. If you were unable to join us, check out this recap video.
The fall colors started popping making it a beautiful season of noticing and embracing the vibrancy of God.
We were thrilled as our long awaited signs arrived helping us honor our legacy donors and show people where to enter and exit. Signage makes it feel like a real place!
We kicked off November with a house full of seventh grade girls from ECS. They learned about recognizing the Fruit of the Spirit in themselves and others and how to engage with God in times of silence.
We held a Listening to God workshop sharing paths for connection to God and discussed how to practice hearing His voice.
Several groups enjoyed perfect fall days for staff, friends, and leaders to meet together. We love having groups, that know each other, experience silence collectively and really embracing the theme of November, which is connection.
Even during a busy time of year, people showed up for the Advent retreat eager to capture the stillness and hope of the season before the chaos ramped up. Welcome was the theme of December, so we took time to open our hearts and minds to God, which enables us to offer welcome to others.
We packed our sessions, silent retreats, open hours, and cabin stays into the first few weeks of the month and closed up shop for Christmas so we could take time for our families and to rest.
Before rounding out the year, we hosted our first training day for three new Collective members. This was a very special day, and we are thrilled to welcome this dynamic group of likeminded practitioners in January, and you will hear more about them soon!
We are grateful to remember all of the joys, the provisions, the support, and the participants of the last year. We very much believe that God is also at work in the struggles, the growing pains, and the times when we can’t see the way. God’s presence is sometimes obvious and other times surprising, but however it shows up, we want to keep making space for it. We hope you will join us.
We are looking forward to what is to come in 2025! If you would like to support and impact this work, if you have felt the light of Christ hovering over this place, please consider a year-end gift to The Retreat House, DBA of Be Free Revolution, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
You can specify that your giving be used in one of three ways:
General Operations which supports our mission to be affordable for all.
The Scholarship Fund which makes it possible for people with financial need to receive counseling, coaching, spiritual direction, intensives, and retreats.
The Barn Raising, a project to convert the currently unusable barn into a beautiful chapel and multipurpose gathering space. This year we have seen the need for a space to accommodate larger groups indoors, as well as a space to host special events.
You are welcome to give online here, Venmo @befreerevolution, Paypal befreerevolution@gmail.com, or through your donor advised fund.
*All donations are tax-deductible and payable to Be Free Revolution, EIN 46-1774745
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