Retreat

The recent staff spiritual retreat was an amazingly healing experience. Being both a young man and a fairly new employee to Community of Christ, my spiritual health is questionable at its best. For the first two years working on my current assignment as a church planter, I’ve pushed myself both physically and mentally, but always seem to neglect my spiritual development. I rationalize that I was doing spiritual stuff while performing other duties or that that was something I could put off for a future date.

I was not nearly prepared, however, for suffering a miscarriage with my wife because I had so neglected my spiritual side. Three month after our lost, both Irina and I were still suffering even though we had healed physically and come to terms with it mentally. During the five days engaged in individual and communal spiritual practices, we were able to begin to regain a fuller sense of God’s peace.

Beyond my spiritual healing, I was surprised by my realizations that the solution to an enormous problem I was having concerning my work responsibilities could be miraculously found by deepening my spiritual practices. Prior to the retreat, it seemed to me that I was at my maximum capacity concerning the amount of people I was able to include in my ministry. I was searching for any way to stretch that capacity, but was not able to see how it was possible. By the last day, I understood that I would be able to effectively minister to more people if I paid more attention to minister myself through my personal spiritual practices. In a sense, I could see that my ministry could be stretched further outwards by stretching further inwards.

Moreover, because my wife was able to attend, we were able to grow a little bit more together, heal more fully as a couple, and learn how take time to breath together as one which I am certain is something that will keep benefiting our marriage way into the future. Irina and I are sincerely grateful that such an opportunity was available to us.

Blessings,

Matt Swain