Back from the Mountains

I returned from my retreat to find Reagan basically unscathed (although she did have a couple of new boo-boos) and the house in pretty good order. Reagan seemed happy to see me and just kept jabbering at me for the first hour or so.

I have mixed feelings about my retreat time. On the positive side, the Cove is a beautiful facility. Having worked with some of the Grahams in their publishing endeavors, I can see how their perfectionistic tendencies really do produce excellence. I did also enjoy getting to know a few people that I didn't have much of a connection with before. So that was good.

Now for the negative. The sessions themselves were pretty disappointing. Because we were instructed to read the speaker's first book, I had hoped we would go deeper into the material. Instead, most of the time I felt as if I were being read to (yes, he was that kind of a speaker) from a book I had already read myself. He was a kind, softspoken man, but he just didn't do it for me as a speaker. I need a little more energy and excitement.

And now for the neutral, but interesting. It snowed while we were there! And not just a tiny snow that dissipates when it hits the ground. There was actually some accumulation. It was beautiful on the mountains, and, fortunately, it didn't cause us any driving problems.

All that said, I'm glad to be back. And I don't see any retreats in my near future. The anxiety of leaving Reagan (and Scott) far outweighed the benefits for me. Perhaps others were inspired, edified, or drawn closer to God. For me, I'm drawn closer to God when I watch Reagan sleeping peacefully, or when I spend quality time with Scott. I didn't need to drive ten hours to find God or myself. We're both here, together.