Places of Retreat and Rest

I am a world-class daydreamer! At least that's what my former school teachers always thought about me when I was a boy in school. It came on some of my report cards. It came as comments from the teacher. It was at any moment in the day that I could let my mind wander off into a far far away land. Maybe it was what made me a reader of great novels. But it's so easy in the middle of math class to be off in the jungles with Tarzan. Or journeying to the center of the earth with Jules Verne. Or to be caught up with some dragon and princess in the middle of a classic fairy tale when you should be cleaning your room.

When the pressure and the stress of everyday life starts to get to you. You look for a place of retreat. I have done this all my life. Personally, I think that everyone does it. I just think that I do it more. It's a weakness, I know. And as an adult I still do it. Escape.

Now I do it daily. But I'm more disciplined about including God with me in my mind. It used to be my dialy run. A time of conversation with God. Usually right after a time of Bible reading and prayer, I would run the Meewasin and allow my mind to wander and meander and chat with my Creator about all the things that ran through it. What a phenomenal time of stress relief! But now things are different. Now it's more like a walk or a simple bike ride (or one of my many naps).

This week is an incredible gift to my family! We're away at a family camp! A place of retreat and rest. A place to get away. A place to recharge and rebuild. And as we do so, we are ready to face challenges that lie ahead. God, thank you for the gift! What great compassion He has shown to me. Dear God, walk with me. Talk with me. May may retreat be a retreat with You.