Forgive me for my leave of absence from this blog the past few weeks. Reasons are in chronological order as follows: One of my daughters got sick, the next daughter got what the first daughter had and we left for a 10 day vacation to North Carolina. On the vacation I had no access to internet nor did I want it (something I will be blogging about today). Then, when we got home, I read this great little eBook by Jeff Goins and immediately responded by starting a new book. So far, by God’s grace, I have been faithfully rising around 6:30 each morning to put in an hour worth of work on the book. In the process, I have completely neglected my little blog here!

So this morning, instead of working on my book, I decided that I must write a blog post. I mean, I know that all of you have been biting your fingernails in anticipation of my next post and all 😉 But I do have many thoughts and ideas swirling in my head at all times (I am not exaggerating, ask my husband – it wears him out sometimes), and this blog is a great venue for me to share some of those and flesh them out on paper.

As I mentioned, our family took a vacation the first week of August to a cabin that my grandparents built more than 50 years ago. It is nestled in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in a tiny town called Cashiers which now boasts two (yes two!) touristy coffee shops that I have grown to love. It seems that more folks have discovered this hidden gem of a place in the last decade or so.

Our family goes to this cabin for many reasons – to relax, to unwind, to unplug from technology, to escape from the demands of the city and our lives at home (which never seem to just “stop”), to explore and recreate in nature, to engage in ample  quality time together, and to reflect on our last year and pray about our priorities for the year ahead. At this point, this last part is done exclusively by Joel and me, but we very much intend to make the children a part of this yearly ritual once they are old enough to do so. Every year since we got married, Joel and I take the week of our birthdays and anniversary (yes, they are all within an 8 day span) to spend time thanking the Lord for the specific ways He has worked in and through our lives the previous year and to pray through our commitments, responsibilities, dreams, and vision for the year ahead.

Needless to say, this is a week I look forward to with great anticipation every year. I am someone who really loves my 8 hours of sleep a night, but the morning we leave for the Cabin each year, I seem to pop out of bed around 4:30 or 5am, ready to make our 10 hour cross country drive to my favorite place on the planet.

So you might say that our annual vacation is also a personal and family retreat. We each spend quite a bit of our time reading, reflecting, journaling, and sitting on the front porch watching the finches and hummingbirds, who neither sow nor reap and the flowers that neither toil or spin.  We think and discuss what is important and unimportant for this season and in view of eternity. Before we had kids, we would spend time in prayer before the Lord as to whether this was the year to begin trying to have a child.

I will personally begin this fall season with an almost 4 year old, an almost 2 year old, and an almost newborn 🙂 (Yes, they are all three girls, yes, they are all exactly two years apart, yes, their birthdays are all in October (if the newborn cooperates!)). What this means for me is: I will have much on my plate. In addition, I have made the decision to homeschool Grace this year. Being that she is only going to be four this year, I am only planning to spend 30 minutes or an hour each day with her maximum in teaching. My goal for the year (which I worked out on our trip) is simply one thing – to teach her how to read. If this can be accomplished this year, I will be a happy momma, because I know how the world can open up to a child once they can read for themselves.

There have been other commitments on my plate this past year that I have decided to back away from for at least a year so that I can work through the shift from 2-3 kids and discern as I go where I am needed the most. Being someone who is always active and involved  in church and community, I plan to stay involved but on a scaled-back level. This is a year where I have prepared my heart and my calendar for family to be the recipients of the large majority of my time and energy. And I am at peace with that!

I have found that preparing for the year ahead (before it hits you over the head like a ton of bricks) with some time away for a personal or family retreat really helps in the following ways:

1) It alleviates stress – once you have prayed about and discerned together with your spouse and sometimes children if they are older what your top priorities and commitments will be, you can be at peace about the things you have said ‘no’ to and why you chose to say no. You don’t have to worry that you should be involved in something you aren’t. You know you have chosen to focus on what the Lord has revealed is most vital for you in this season of your life.

2) It cultivates creativity – when you have the ‘vision’ plain before you for the year, you can begin to focus in on what you are called to and explore how you can creatively manage those responsibilities and opportunities.

3) It fills you with hope and momentum for the year ahead – when you have a vision, you are filled with inspiration to fulfill it. That is why in Scripture it says that where there is no vision, the people perish – or as the Message Version of the Bible says “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.”(Proverbs 29:18)

4) It keeps you focused and on track – we all have goals in life and only one life to fulfill them. We also have been given the time necessary to do all that God is calling us to do. This is truth!! Even though we may think we never have enough time, perhaps the main reason is because we are pulled in a hundred different directions instead of focusing on and sowing into the area(s) that we are actually called to work and serve.

5) It simplifies and makes practical the pursuit – prayerful planning aligns us with the heart of God for our own life in this season and cuts out complications that come in when we are pouring our energy into areas we shouldn’t. It also helps us when we practically write or think through how we are going to accomplish the goals in front of us.

So – what is stopping you? I would challenge you to take at least one 24-hour period by yourself or with your spouse (and kids, if they are old enough) for a retreat to prayerfully lift up to God this next year or season of your life. Lay everything you are doing and wish to do (or have been asked to do) before Him. Discuss these responsibilities with your spouse as well. Once you have reached some conclusions, talk and pray though how you can make the most of your time to accomplish the goals that are before you. You (and your family) will be glad that you did!!