Soul Care

"Allowing service for Christ to steal our devotion to him is a radical failure in personal soul care. But it is one from which the practice of communing with Christ in times of solitude and silence can deliver us."


How many times have we gotten to the place where we are absolutely empty, poured out, exhausted...and how many times have we found that the rest and refreshment of a three day spiritual retreat, where we have a private room and time to take a nap, walk in a natural setting, read our Bibles, and simply be silent and alone with the Lord has completely restored us?

Silence, Solitude, and Time are essential to our soul care.

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Solitude, Silence and Rest

“We need to be sure HE is pulling the load, bearing the burden—which we are all too ready to assume is up to us alone. We must understand that He is in charge of the outcome of our efforts, and that the outcome will be good, right. And all of this is encompassed in one biblical term, “Sabbath.”


Practicing solitude, silence and fasting are especially helpful in resting. It's practicing silence and solitude on retreat that not only provides a deep sense of rest while we are on retreat, but also then enables us to enter into that place of rest even in the midst of a very busy life back home.

Living with an attitude of total rest in God will not happen automatically. We must practice laying everything down and walking away from it. We have to practice not talking. We have to practice silencing the inner noise. I love that at The Springs retreat we have opportunity to learn how to leave behind all of our work and how to quiet all of the noise so that we can truly enter into God's rest.

The challenge is to not bring our work with us when we go on a spiritual retreat. It's tempting to think that we'll use the time to write an article or complete our Bible study. If we do this, true solitude and rest will not be found. We have to get away from our work to rest.

Take an afternoon to walk the trails. Take an hour to reflect on the beauty of a wildflower or listen to the birds. Take some time to just sit in a chair and look at the valley and be open to the Lord. Just be with Him. It can be quite a shock for those of us who are so busy doing ministry to come away in order to just be with the Lord. But once we've practiced solitude and silence, they become the most precious times for us...and truly, we can learn to bring the blessedness of that rest into our busy lives.

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Registration is open for The Springs Retreat, November 2-4, 2011

If you are thinking about going to The Springs in November, now's the time to sign up. We have 14 spots available. Go to http://www.newim.com/ and click on "shop" - to register online.  Or email DarleneDerby@comcast.net with questions or scholarship information. 

Luann Budd will be leading Track 2 this fall, focusing on the contemporary use of the Prayer of Examen.

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Grateful Beyond Words

The Springs retreat is simply a tool, a powerful tool that the Lord uses to draw us into His heart of love.

The Springs is a time to come away and spend time with Him, in a safe place with trusted women, with everything focused on the Lord. The Springs creates an environment for God's transforming love. There have been times that I've gone to the Springs, and simply needed physical rest, and a refocusing on the Lord through worship and His word. He knows us so intimately, knows our needs better than we do, and He alone is able to truly meet those needs.

And although the Springs is an actual event, the principles it has taught me go far beyond the time spent there. I now know that I must be intentional in setting aside times to completely focus on the Lord, to come before Him just as I am, to love Him and experience His love for me. Aside from daily devotional times, Bible studies, and prayer, there is something unique in making a time to completely and simply be in His presence.

As I write this, I'm taking a day to simply rest and be refreshed by the Lord. The past weeks have been a whirlwind of busyness, and I knew He was calling me to a day of rest. Once again, He has met me in a way that I don't think is possible without coming apart for a time alone.

I am grateful beyond words for the ministry of the Springs. Thank You, Lord.

(sent to Luann by a retreat past retreat participant)

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Solitude, Silence, Reflection, Prayer

Come join a small group of women from diverse backgrounds and various Christian churches on a spiritual retreat.

We will have times of coming together for Biblical teaching, worship and prayer and then times when we will have lovely stretches of solitude for our personal devotional practices and prayer.

The Springs offers 3 tracks. In the first track, the leaders will walk you through how to have a personal retreat. There will be times of coming together as a group and then long stretches of time for you to spend time on your own with the Lord. The second track offers less structured program and more time for us to be alone with the Lord. The third track is totally on your own. It's for women who want to have three days with the Lord at a retreat center where other women are also retreating.

Women from all of the tracks are invited to chapel times where we have a short devotional thought from the Word and time to sing and worship together. Chapels move us from community times to times of solitude and silence. We meet for chapel the first thing in the morning (as we break our evening silence), at lunchtime, before dinner and as we end our day.

The retreat is held at a retreat center. We each have a private room and private bath so we can rest, take a nap, pray, and spend time with the Lord without interruption. There are lovely grounds at the retreat center, statues for contemplation and trails to walk, chair set about in lovely places to give us opportunity to be in nature, to reflect and read.

I hope you will consider joining us.

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