The past few months have been a blur. Like most people, the summer went by too fast and I didn’t take the time I needed/wanted to recharge. This being said, fall began with a wonderful visit with my brother and his wife, who drove across the country as they enjoy retirement.
While they were at my house, they saw this photo, taken at the end of my first Making All Things New retreat. This first retreat, which my brother Don and sister Jody came from California support me, was based on my doctoral work. My goal was to create a health transformation retreat rooted in Ignatian spirituality. It was, and continues to provide a way for people, especially those with chronic illness, to reorder their lives, body, mind and spirit. St. Ignatius called it “cura personalis,” caring for the whole person.
Over the last few months, I’ve been discerning some major changes for this blog, my retreats, and the way I offer spiritual direction. The goal of these changes are to focus on meeting people where they are, and helping them make changes to their everyday lives so that they discern how God might be calling them to do more for Him.
All this is very exciting to me, and I wanted to post today, the feast day of St. John Paul II, who I had the chance to meet and he quickly became one of the great inspirations of my life. Since he dealt with chronic illness in the later part of his epic life, I see him as one of this site’s patron saints, and this blog a part of the New Evangelization he called for.
Look for new things to come, starting soon! I can’t wait to share them with you!