Great To Go Away, But Great To Get Home

The retreat I helped plan this past weekend was a great success. It started on Thursday evening and ended on Sunday morning back at the church. Each morning both the team and the retreatants got up before sunrise and didn't go to bed until after dark. Unfortunately the weather was hot and humid and we had to move some of the activities inside, but other than that everything went according to plan.

The retreat center used to be a school for men studying to be religious brothers. When it was first built the area was completely rural, and the center is still surrounded by green space. The dormitory building is more than a hundred years old. The bedrooms are small (with a twin bed, small desk and chair, tiny closet, and sink), and reflect their original purpose as simple sleeping quarters for communal living, but I didn't spend much time there. The rooms have been updated for this century with ceiling fans and window unit air conditioning. The bathrooms and showers are down the hall. The area has been updated with new tile and fixtures, but are still pretty spartan.

It was great to be away, but also great to get home. I chose to turn off my phone for the weekend and came home to a slew of emails in my inboxes and dozens of posts in my reader. In addition to electronic clutter there is also a pile of retreat paperwork to wade through because as the weekend went on I just tossed things in a pile to bring home instead of organizing it onsite. 

I know I will eventually wade through everything.....starting tomorrow 😫.

Five years ago today: Life Lessons For Aging