This week I’m highlighting some major themes from our 3-day Cultivate Retreat at @triplewrenfarms (July 23-25, 2020), and truly, they’re nothing new to this feed. I’m building the retreat around what God’s been teaching me over the past year as an artist, businesswoman, mom, wife, and friend, and I’ve been writing here about exactly that! So if you’ve been following along, it’s probably no surprise that a major theme of the retreat is “Cultivating rest and structure as essential tools to prevent burnout.”

Somehow in our hustle, the drive to succeed has eclipsed the bliss of rest. The balance has disappeared for too many of us. {Too much rest is laziness, but too much work is miserable; but where is the happy middle?!} I’ve written more about rest and what it means for productivity, health, and joie de vivre here than probably anything else, but I still have more to say, because I’m still learning more about what it means!

Right now, I’m reading author Paul Miller’s book A Praying Life and it’s impacting me powerfully. Miller’s words on rest captured my attention:

“Jesus opens his arms to his needy children and says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy. What does it feel like to be weary? You have trouble concentrating. The problems of the day are like claws in your brain. You feel pummeled by life. What does heavy-laden feel like? Same thing. You have so many problems you don’t even know where to start. You can’t do life on your own anymore. Jesus wants you to come to him.”

I’m so excited to sit together and rest at the farm, to spend time talking to Jesus together, to dig into God’s word, to feast together, and to experience the refreshment of creating together.

I’m so excited to sit together and rest at the farm, to spend time talking to Jesus together, to dig into God’s word, to feast together, and to experience the refreshment of creating together.

Are you weary? Is your creativity flagging? Maybe a few days together is exactly what you need.

We’re praying for the perfect group of women to come together for the Cultivate Retreat and for it to be truly restful, God-centered, and refreshing on all levels. Will you pray for that along with us?