RETREATS | Ordinary Christian Women

Come then, My beloved, My lovely one, come.
Song of Solomon 2:10 NJB

"Date Night"

Come and enjoy a contemplative overnight

Fall Retreat with God

Friday Oct. 25th - Saturday Oct. 26th, 2024

Are you needing some time away with God?

Do you feel God inviting you to "Come?"

Register now and join us!

Dear friends...

Retreats have been one of the most powerful ways I've grown closer to the Lord. Just like any relationship, time alone away together is helpful for us in keeping a healthy, vibrant relationship.

In the beginning I went on retreats out of sheer desperation. All the other things I was doing helped a little but I needed more. I needed the help, getting away from my routine and home and structure provided by a retreat and its beautiful setting.

Now, not only do I still need retreats, but I long for them in my busy days and weeks. Knowing I'm going to have an oasis coming up helps me to press on. I can sense too the Lord looks forward to our special time as well. I anticipate this life-giving time away with God like nothing else!

-Cecilia

Are you in need of some time away with the Lord...

feeling an invitation and nudge to come away and spend some quality time with Him? Come!

DATES: Fri. Oct 25 - Sat. Oct 26, 2024 at Siena Retreat Center on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, just over the border in Racine, Wisconsin.

Register below to secure your spot as there is limited space!

Why go on a retreat?

"Jesus invites us to be with him, offering our full and undivided attention to him. When we choose to retreat, we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. We are not always generous with ourselves where God is concerned. Many of us have tried to incorporate regular times of solitude and silence into the rhythm of our ordinary lives, which may mean that we give God twenty minutes here and half an hour there. And there’s no question we are better for it! But we need more.

Indeed, we long for more.

There has never been a time when the invitation to retreat is so radical and so relevant,

so needed and so welcome.

It is not a luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual life."

-Ruth Haley Barton, Invitation to Retreat

Tentative OUTLINE

FRIDAY

2-4pm - Arrival, Registration, Settling in

4:30pm - Orientation / Welcome / Invitations

5:30pm - Fellowship Dinner

7pm - Evening Prayer Experience: Jesus, You are my Beloved

-Practices for the MIND: The battle of Quieting the Mind

"Thoughts matter!

and we can do something about afflictive thoughts. (Rm 12:2)

Our internal thoughts are the main reason we struggle and feel noisy, anxious, confused and distant from ourselves, others and God."

SATURDAY

8am- Continental Breakfast

9am- Morning Prayer Experience: Father, I am your beloved

-Practice for the HEART: Engaging the heart and our desire for God, and His for us

"Our hearts matter!

Willpower alone will not change us or guide us very far. (Rm 7:19)

Who I love is what truly changes and governs me"

Break - Time for Quiet reflection / walks / optional 1-1 session of Spiritual Direction

12pm - Lunch

1pm - Mid-day Prayer Experience: Holy Spirit, we all are your beloved

-Practice for the BODY: Embodied prayer, God's dwelling place

"Our bodies matter and how we serve through them. (Mt 25:40)

What we think and who we love guides how we live, move and act. (Acts 17:28)

We embody Jesus, we are His hands and feet to the world."

Break - Time for Quiet reflection / walks / optional 1-1 session of Spiritual Direction

3:30pm- Closing Prayer & Gratitude sharing

4pm - Dismissal & check out

Focus of the Retreat: We will spend some time resting in God's love and receiving His help, His Words and the guidance that only He can provide. But that is often easier said then done! so you'll receive some guidance and spiritual practices to help with that.

"To know one's thoughts is the starting place to take action for one's responsibility to live a life of doing good and avoiding evil.

In practice, the way to purity of heart, and hence to having a full-blown peace of mind, is to remove the human afflictions by reducing, redirecting, and removing our thoughts.

Then God's presence 'springs up.'"

Benedictine nun, author and teacher Mary Margaret Funk- Thoughts Matter & Tools Matter

Meals PROVIDED:

Friday Dinner, Saturday's Breakfast & Lunch. Let us know of any dietary restrictions.

ROOMS: You will enjoy your own private room and bath

Quiet Reflection time on your own

You'll be invited into some quiet too and encouraged to enjoy the serene and beautiful Campus of Siena Retreat Center.

Amenities:

Retreatants have access to small prayer/meditation rooms, an outdoor labyrinth, a beautiful Chapel, a Creativity Room which includes a variety of art supplies and the grounds. Depending on the weather you can walk the grounds (lakeshore, prairie, and woods) or sit in the screened porch or on the Memorial Patio. Bicycles are also available.

This is not a fully silent retreat, but we will invite times of quiet.

There will be some optional group interactions.

But a quiet presence is expected on the grounds and in the buildings.

SUGGESTED OFFERING

$230* Includes a private room & bath, all guided prayer experiences, 3 meals, materials, meeting room rental for our gatherings, access to the retreat center's campus & all its amenities

OPTIONAL Add on of a 1-1 SESSIONS AVAILABLE (extra fee $25)

Several individual appointments will be available Saturday in the morning & afternoon if you'd like to receive a 30 minute Spiritual Direction/Immanuel Prayer session.

Optional Add on an Extra night/Saturday (extra fee $115) for some on-your-own time with the Lord. This fee includes your room Sat. night, Sat. Dinner and Sunday morning Breakfast. I REALLY recommend this, almost everyone wishes they could stay one more night.

Add a little extra. The fees collected often don't cover the actual expenses of holding the retreat, but we try to keep the cost low. If you are able to offer any extra donation, it's greatly appreciated.

*Fees are non-refundable, but transferable if for some reason you are not able to attend, you can pass it on to a friend.

The retreat will be facilitated by Spiritual Director, Cecilia T. Whitacre

Registration will close when the retreat is full or by Oct. 11th. There are a limited number of rooms, so please register today.