Posted from Fargo, ND, July 25
Cedarly Retreat Center, west of Milwaukee, proved to be the perfect place of the third encampment on our sabbatical journey. Here we found gracious but non-intrusive hosting in the persons of Andy and Nancy and shared the house with nine other guests - four pastoral couples (one from Columbia, PA!) and one single pastor. The breakfast and evening meals were set out in a little kitchen galley for us to eat on our own but the noon meal was fully prepared and personally served by the resident chef, Mike. We could not have eaten better. We all gathered around the large table, Andy would lead in a brief devotional thought, give thanks for the meal and we dug in. Between bites, Andy would probe and challenge our thinking in relation to how we take and observe sabbath as a means of growing our relationship with God and maintaining physical, spiritual and emotional health in our ministries. This was the only scheduled group activity of the day. Beyond that we could rise when we wanted and use all the rest of the time to pursue our own schedule of rest, reading, journalling or conversation with the other pastors, something that increased as the week went on. Every need was taken care of and we could give ourselves to our spiritual journey without distraction or interruption. A large lake provided opportunity for canoeing, swimming and, of course, windsurfing.
Again we commit all that we have seen, heard and learned in this place to the Lord as we move on west to our fourth encampment at Judith Guard Station and then on to the Gird Point Fire Tower. Until now, all of our places have involved some measure of interaction with others, but this next week will be just the two of us. Let’s see how we survive that!
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