Today I am headed up to Holy Trinity, AL, just across the river from Columbus, GA, to the Blessed Trinity Shrine Retreat Center (BTSR) http://www.msbt.org/pages/spiritualitycntr/bstr/facilities.html
for their annual women’s retreat weekend. I have been to this retreat many times and always come away feeling relaxed and with a new perspective on my life. It is an opportunity to wander and walk in nature (see some deer if I am lucky), pray, read, and rest. I usually head up there two times a year, the other being Labor Day weekend and the annual healing retreat presented by Father Matthew Linn (totally awesome!) Why do I drive 3 1/2 hours to be in the woods and hang out with a great group of women?
Blessed Trinity sits on holy ground. Read about it by clicking on the link listed above. There is an air of healing and peace as soon as you turn down the road that leads to the center and chapel. The center is run by a group of compassionate and friendly Sisters. It is my opportunity to recharge my spiritual life and also be in community. This timing fits in beautifully with my desire to enrich my relationship with Jesus in 2013. I am planning to spend time in the chapel reflecting and just being with Jesus. Here is a picture of the chapel.
Jesus set an example of the need to get away and pray:
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Mark 6:45-46
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:15-16
So here I go to the Alabama woods-can’t wait to see what happens this year!! Leave a comment if you have had a retreat experience or need to go on one!
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.