Retreat to Quiet

For 26 hours I had the pleasure of taking part in a retreat with four other women.  We tried to keep the time as unorganized as 5 organized women can allow, but the idea behind the retreat was "to be" and raise our awareness of gratitude in our lives. 

I am grateful

*  for friendships - new and older that grant an intense level of respect for one another.  Like these trees that have swallowed a barbed wire fence as they grew, we all have scars. Trust helps us to allow a level of vulnerability to show those scars and know that your friend won't flinch.

I am grateful

* for time and an aging body that has stuck with me and taken me through every day of my life, no matter how I treated it.  In this photo, trees have grown thru the roof of this tiny out building along the road where I took a morning walk. The building still stands just as we do through life's highs and lows.

I am grateful

* for the differences in this world that make it such an interesting place to roam.  Language, culture, history, government, dress, expectations, money---the list is long. I enjoy learning about our differences and I marvel how in the end, we are all the same.

I am grateful

* for a peaceful place where I can walk, pray, read, meditate, take photographs, and just be to the sounds of birds and the breeze.

I am grateful for all these things and much more. Family, good health, a loving church community, and good neighbors are just some of the reasons I am one fortunate and humble woman.