TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - A Choice That Can Reduce Anxiety
I can be a control freak at times. How about you? And if you don't feel in control, that can lead to anxiety. Well, this week we get to unpack this a bit further with our dynamic duo at Unhurried Living.
Mid-Summer 2022 VIDEO UPDATE
Sean shares a mid-year update on where we are headed, Expanding effective Christian camp ministry the empowers urban youth, families and leaders to thrive!
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - 17 Simple Ways to Serve Others
My daughter and I recently returned from a week of serving near Antigua, Guatemala. This was a complicated act of service that took months of planning and saving. However there are so many ways we can server everyday.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Sacred Rhythms
Unless I become a teacher, I don't think a month long sabbatical in July is going to happen for me. But, we can find ways to put sabbatical into our lives. I know the two summers I did take ministry/work sabbaticals, that I was really recharged in ways I could never have been otherwise. The older I get the more I find that less is more! Join me in exploring sabbatical with Gem.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - How True Abundance Happens
I don't like pain or suffering. I don't like being stuck or feeling overwhelmed. I don't like testing or going through the fire. Yet, these are the tools God allows to shape us, to move us into deeper relationship, and to dwell in Him alone.
July 2022 Newsletter
Winter Camp theme announced, LA Christian School returning to camping with OMV, Benchmarking one of the Best, plus Prayer requests and more…
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - What Shape are You In?
I don't know about you, but I know these last 2+ years of the pandemic have pressed me and shaped me. It continues to impact my daily life and the lives of those around me. Gem leads us this week to find the lessons and grace in this pressing and shaping.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Six Practices for Spiritual Retreat
We have a big family wedding this weekend at our family's summer home on Lake George in upstate New York. This place has always been my home away from home, and Silver Bay YMCA , just down the road, has always been a great place for spiritual retreat since it was founded as the Y's missionary training center at the turn of the 20th century. This week Alan helps us discover six components of a great spiritual retreat. I hope you will plan some time in July to lean in to Jesus. I know I am!
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - The Heart of an Unhurried Leader
When we make the choice to slow down our leadership we may get less done, but we often become more like Christ. And, Jesus calls us to be doers of His word, not just doers. So, the more I can be like Jesus as I lead, the more I do His word. In my life, at first, I had to make relationships 'tasks' to trick my self into making them a priority. Now I am more balanced and relationship flows more naturally into balance with the doing.
June 2022 Newsletter
Where are we hosting camp for Summer of 2023? How did Johnny become bolder at ReConnect 2022? Read on to find out!
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - A Master of Life
A lot of times we break our faith up into compartments between our spiritual life and our life at work. But that is not what God wants. He desires to integrate them together and for our work (whatever that may be) to be our ministry too. I believe everyone is in full time ministry, not just those who are paid to do 'spiritual work' - what do you think?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Very Married: More Reflections on Long-Time Love
Amy and I are approaching 24 years this year, and we are much like Alan and Gem. Our pre-marriage counselor told us we were 'double trouble' differing in both pace and priority. Amy leans into relationships and takes her time, I am fast paced and enjoy a good checklist. Yet we make it work. Our strongly held common core values, love for adventure and love for Jesus keep us glued.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - A Friend of Henri Nouwen
This week we explore the value of affirming the gifts of God we see in each other's lives. When was the last time you were thanked or blessed someone else with thanksgiving?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Navigating Our Experiences of Change
How can thinking of a season of perpetual change as journey instead of a transition help us find joy and peace? We get to explore that thought this week.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Remember the Truth
How easily we fall into believing lies. I feel bad for the Russian people as their leader tries to justify his war based on lies about Ukraine. They are susceptible to lies because they have bad sources of truth. Thankfully we have the most reliable source of truth in the world, the Bible. And the more we live in its truth the more we transform our minds and world.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Trusting Abundance
What is your heart’s image of God? Do you imagine God distant or near, skimping or lavish, aloof or intimate? Let's reflect on the abundance of God as our friends at Unhurried Living guide us in God's spring of life as a portrayal of the continual and strong flow of God’s grace, love, and joy in our lives.
May 2022 Newsletter
Yesterday our board met for three hours of strategic planning. The outcome? We are believing by faith that God will provide the resources to do two winter weekends and three weeks of summer camp for urban youth in 2023.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - The God Who wants to Help Us
I loved the prayer in this week's Take 5. If we are all honest sometimes we feel this way despite reality being very different. So we need to take our thoughts captive, making them obedient to Christ as Paul directs us in 2 Corinthians 2:5. I have printed this prayer out to put by my monitor for when my feelings betray me. Maybe you will too?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - A Post Easter Week Reflection
As many of us get back into our normal routines, students return to studies, and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday go back to "normal" days, it is important to reflect on what we just celebrated. Which day of Holy Week was most meaningful to you and why?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Thoughts on Contemplation and Planning
Do we practice what we preach? Are we spending all this time learning about listening and never really taking time to listen? Does the way we lead allow space for God to work and speak? Explore these and other questions today as Alan reflects on integrating contemplative practices into corporate ministry leadership.