So, Abbey, as you look back over 2011, have there been any significant changes in your life?

     I guess the most significant change in my life is that I've changed my attitude toward sneaking out for a walk. I know it makes you and Mim worry whenever I go out by myself, so I decided I don't need to worry you. I can be just as happy inside with my Grandmas petting me as I can be outside following Gary Gopher's scent to yet another gopher hole. Occasionally I lapse back into my old attitude and slip out the door, but not very often. How about you? Did you make any changes in your life in 2011?

     Well, yes, I did. I tried to make one significant change on January 1, 2011. I committed to read and write every day in the journaling version of the Jesus Calling devotional book by Sarah Young.

     Were you successful? Did you read and write every day? And, did it make any difference in your life?

     To answer your last question first, I'd say yes. The common theme of the daily devotions in Jesus Calling is to be constantly aware that God loves me and is right beside me every day. To be reminded of Jesus being right there to help me with whatever comes my way every single day was very helpful in increasing my awareness of God's presence with me. It's definitely an attitude changer. In answer to your other question, did I read and write every single day? Not quite. A few days I couldn't get to it early in the morning, and sometimes I got to it later in the day, sometimes I didn't. I also got tired of writing my thoughts in response to the reading for the day. I probably won't do a journaling devotional again. But I'll definitely commit to reading from another daily devotional book next year.

     I sometimes wish I could read, especially when I see you and Mim get so excited about something you're reading. But I guess God has given us different gifts. You don't get to sit next to your favorite people and feel them petting you in silence for hours at a time.

     I sometimes wish I could just sit still for a long time like you, but there seem to always be things I need to do. One of the new things I started doing in 2011 is playing the piano for the women's worship service in the County Jail. In February I started playing the piano in jail twice a month. Last week when I was there, we had to wait about 15 minutes after the service was over before a guard came to escort the women back to their cell block. While we were waiting one of the women asked me if I knew the song, "Dona Nobis Pacem." I said that I'd heard it, but I didn't have the music for it. I suggested that we go to the piano together and I'd try to pick it out with her singing it. After we did that song, other women joined us and a spontaneous Christmas Carol Sing-along broke out. It was so much fun!

     That sounds like fun. I wish I could have gone with you. I bet some of those women would have liked to pet me. We work together pretty well. Why don't you ask the chaplain if I can come along next time?

     I don't think that would be approved, Abbey. They're pretty strict in the jail. I have a hard enough time getting a songbook past the guards. I'm sure I couldn't bring a dog along. But you're right, we do work together well. This blog is a perfect example of that. I started writing this blog in April. That's one of the best new things I did in 2011. I have fun writing almost every Monday morning to share some reflections with all the friends of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven. But occasionally, I have a hard time figuring out what to write about. And without fail, whenever that happens, you jump right in and help me write it. Thanks, Abbey, I really appreciate your help.

     You're welcome. I like to write, too. That's one of my favorite new things of 2011. Do you think we should start any new things in 2012?

     I have a suggestion for you, Abbey. How would you like to commit to not stealing any more food off the kitchen counter? That kringle you stole from the counter yesterday was not good for you, and Mim and I and the Grandmas really wanted to eat it ourselves. We would have given you a taste. Why did you take the whole thing?

     Oh, was that kringle ever good! I couldn't really help myself. Once I took the first bite, I knew I had to eat it all. I'm not sure I'm really sorry that I did it. I am sorry that there wasn't any more for you, but I'm really glad I got to eat it, too. I'm not sure about making any New Year's resolutions about something like that.

     Well, you have a few days before New Year's Day. Just think about it... And, thanks again for your help in writing this blog.

     You're welcome. My pleasure. I'm glad we had this little talk. It's good to think back over last year to think about the changes we've made in our lives. Maybe we should have another talk about things we might want do do next year. I'll start thinking about that.

     I experienced another God-wink last week. It was Thursday afternoon and I was in the county jail to play the piano for the women's worship service. There were nine of us sitting in a circle in the chapel - the chaplain, myself, and seven inmates. After we read the Scriptures for the day, we went around the circle, each woman telling us what today's readings meant to her, or sharing whatever else was on her mind.

     When it was my turn, I talked about the wonderful Christmas Carol Sing-along we had had at Whispering Winds the previous Sunday afternoon. I described what it was like to have a group of 21 people gathered together at our retreat house, singing Christmas carols for a couple hours, and enjoying the anticipation of once again celebrating the birth of the Christ Child and God's love for us.

     One of the women asked me several questions about what Whispering Winds is like, and then asked me if I knew about another retreat center not far from Madison. At first I said no, that I didn't. But then, as she described it, I realized she was talking about my niece's home. My niece and her husband have a remodeled farmhouse and a large beautifully landscaped yard that they use for various church groups and youth camping events. My niece and her husband are foster parents and have adopted three of the children they have cared for. One of them is this woman's son. All nine of us sitting around the circle were amazed at this God-wink - the what a small world it is discovery.

     This woman has been in and out of jail several times over the past ten years. When she saw how lovingly my niece and her husband cared for children in their home, and when she learned that they were willing to adopt her son, she made one of the toughest decisions of her life. She decided to forfeit her parental rights so that her son could become their son. She knew that she would not be able to care for him for the next year or two while she served time in prison. She loved her son so much that she wanted what would be best for him, even if it meant sacrificing her parental rights.

     She asked me to be sure to tell my niece that we met, and to let them know how thankful she is that they have adopted her son, and that they are letting her still be involved in his life. She is hoping to be able to send them all a Christmas card this week.

     When I talked with my niece about this God-wink she said God's ability to put pieces together is truly amazing. She said that they have been praying for God's protection for her. She has a wonderful heart, but keeps getting pulled back into trouble, despite her best intentions.

     We are now in the fourth week of Advent. The theme for this week is love. Can you imagine a love so great that a mother would give up her parental rights for the good of the child? Or, can you imagine a God who loves us so much that He gave His Son for us? As the Bible says, Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. [I Corinthians 13:13 NRSV]

     Once again, God's love is made visible in jail.

     Do you remember learning the alphabet song? I remember figuring out that it's the same tune as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." It was a good song to learn, because it helped me memorize the letters of the alphabet and the order they came in. I can remember taking a test in second grade where we had to write out the whole alphabet with all the letters in the right order. For some reason, the only way I could remember the order for "L M N O P" was to sing them. So I sang that part of the song in my mind. Then, when I had written all the letters down, I sang the whole song in my mind to be sure I was right. Music helped me learn the alphabet.

     Some people learned the alphabet from alphabet story books, with each page of the book having a picture of something that began with that letter - A with an Apple, B with a Baseball Bat, C with a Cat, and so on.

     I recently came upon a new kind of alphabet book. A very good friend of mine, Marilyn Huebel, wrote the book, Bringing Hope to Life:  26 Ways to Change the World You Live in. Author Gregory F. Augustine Pierce writes in the book's foreword, Marilyn Huebel's beautiful little book is about ... how to begin building the kingdom of God in our own lives and in the lives of those we touch. It is about reconciliation and hope and love, from A to Z. She doesn't use many words. An image here. A metaphor there. A quote from someone famous. A verse from Scripture. Her vignettes are meant to encourage us to think again about how we should and could be building the kingdom of God in our daily lives... As you read through these twenty-six reflections (enough for a month if you rest on Sundays!), I hope you are inspired by the author's simple message of personal challenge and her ability to inspire specific actions within the course of your daily routines.

     The A entry is Ad Libbing. B is for Boxes. C is for Cubicle Life... X is X Marks the Spot. Y is You Wash, I'll Dry. Z is Zebras, Dolphins, and Ferns, Oh My! Each entry is a two or three page reflection, ending with a question that asks how you can change something in your world that will begin to bring about the "Kingdom of God" by your own actions today.

     Bringing Hope to Life:  26 Ways to Change the World You Live in (Copyright © 2011 by Vesper Society, published by ACTA Publications, Chicago) is a little book (173 pages, about 5 inches square) that's fun to read and think about. You may never think about ad libbing, boxes, and cubicle life in the same way again. Or about each letter of the alphabet. Maybe the book will inspire you to create your own alphabet book.

     The book is available directly from the publisher (http://www.actapublications.com/bringinghopetolife/) as well as on Amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Hope-Life-Marilyn-Huebel/dp/087946478X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323724051&sr=8-1) A nice Christmas present for anyone who enjoys easy-to-read but thoughtful books.

     When I was in first grade, I remember the Methodist and Presbyterian kids got together in church for something. I don't remember any of the details, except one. We sang my favorite Christmas song, Away in a Manger - but it wasn't the right tune! How disappointing. I blamed the Presbyterians. And to this day, in my mind, the Kirkpatrick tune is the Presbyterian tune, and the Murray tune is the right one.

     In fourth grade music class, we learned to sing some new Christmas carols that we all had heard on the radio, but we hadn't sung them before because they weren't in the church hymnals. Everyone's favorite was O Holy Night. We had music class once a week, and every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas someone asked if we could sing O Holy Night. The first music class after Christmas vacation, my friend Dennis requested that song again. There was an immediate uprising in the class. You aren't supposed to sing Christmas songs after Christmas! And we didn't. That's when I learned the absolute rules of the secular Christmas season. Fortunately, not all churches follow those rules. And, at home now, I let myself play Christmas music throughout the twelve days of Christmas, sometimes even a little longer.

     I started thinking about all those memories when I started to compile a songbook for us to use next Sunday afternoon for the Whispering Winds Christmas Carol Sing. I decided to include a mix of Advent Carols, Christmas Carols, and a few secular Christmas songs. I wanted to limit myself to about 50 songs in total - not that we'll sing all 50, but I wanted to provide a nice selection to choose from. It amazed me how hard it is to limit myself to 50. The flyers that have been posted to announce the sing-along say, "Sing all your favorites." I guess they should really say, "Sing all Marian's favorites," because that's what will be in the songbook. But even that's not true, because I couldn't include all my favorites without doubling the size of the songbook.

     Songs in the ADVENT section of the songbook range from O Come, O Come, Emmanuel from medieval times to Emmanuel, the contemporary praise song. The lively Soon and Very Soon is included. One of the newest songs is Like a Child - the lovely song that Mim sang in our church the first Sunday of Advent. No one will probably choose that song to sing on Sunday afternoon, because not many people know it, but it has become one of my top favorites - so it's in the book.

     The CHRISTMAS CAROL section of the songbook includes 26 old favorites, including both versions of Away in a Manger (just in case any Presbyterians come to the Sing-along). Some of the other titles are:

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joy to the World
The First Noel,
Angels We Have Heard on High
It Came upon the Midnight Clear
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
What Child is This
Silent Night
O Holy Night
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Still, Still, Still
There's a Song in the Air
The Birthday of a King
I Wonder as I Wander

... I wish I had space to list all 26 songs here. If you're like me, as you read each title, the tune of that song starts playing in your mind, and you smile as you think about the song itself - or about some associations you have with the song. Think about Silent Night. Do you hear the tune? Do you remember all the words? What memories come to mind? Are you smiling?

     Just for fun, I decided to include a few secular Christmas songs in the book:

Over the River and through the Woods
Frosty the Snowman
Jingle Bells
White Christmas

... I did NOT include Santa Baby or any of the other songs that I don't like that seem to always be on the radio.

     Hope you can join us Sunday afternoon, December 11, starting at 2:00. I could have used today's blog to write about all the Christmas cookies we'll bake this week for all of us to eat after singing up an appetite - sugar cookies, krumkake, berliner kranse, coffee cookies, date balls, spritz, pecan lady fingers, candy cane cookies, peppermint chocolate chip cookies, mocha double chocolate cookies - but I wanted to whet your appetite for singing first. (It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas, and it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas, too!)

     Today my mind is jumping from one good feeling to the next, rotating among three good feelings - Thankfulness, Excitement, and Anticipation. Let me explain what's up.

     First - Thankfulness. I had a wonderful day on Thanksgiving last week. Two friends, both named Marilyn, joined us for dinner. The Marilyn from Cambridge is always fun to have around. She brought the cranberries. The Marilyn from Chicago made the stuffing and put the turkey in the oven for us at Whispering Winds. The Chicago Marilyn also stayed a couple days to visit.

     My friendship with the Chicago Marilyn dates back to the days when we both lived in the same dorm at Wheaton College in the 1960's. In the 1980's we owned a two-flat together in Chicago. Marilyn lived on the first floor. Mim and I had the second floor. Last week we celebrated a major accomplishment with Marilyn - she has published her first book, Bringing Hope to Life: 26 ways to change the world you live in. It's a wonderful little book. I'll tell you more about it when it shows up on Amazon.com, hopefully within a week or two, in time for Christmas shopping.

     Second - Excitement. The first E-Retreat to be offered by Whispering Winds begins this week - "Holy Waiting in an Instant Culture - Advent." An E-Retreat is an email-based retreat, a resource designed to guide participants along a path of spiritual reflection centered on a particular theme. Our first E-Retreat is on the Advent theme of "waiting." This E-Retreat consists of a series of 12 emails, one email to be sent each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday throughout the four weeks of Advent. The emails include Bible readings, reflections, prayers, music, and thoughtful suggestions for personally applying the ideas presented. This E-Retreat was developed for Whispering Winds by Pastor Joan Gunderman. (Click here for more details.) Although today's email has already been sent, you can still register throughout this week. We'll send you any emails you may have missed right away so you can easily catch up. The cost of this E-Retreat is $25, which you can pay by credit card when you register on our website.

     Third - Anticipation. Lu Ferron and I are working on getting everything ready for our Christmas Carol Sing at Whispering Winds on Sunday, December 11, at 2:00. Last week I compiled our songbook - 50 songs ranging from "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" to "Soon and Very Soon" for Advent; from "Joy to the World" to "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" for Christmas; and from "Frosty the Snowman" to "White Christmas" for fun. Lu and I are getting together at Whispering Winds tomorrow to decorate for the holidays. And we're both baking dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies. Hope many of you can join us for an afternoon of singing all your favorite Christmas carols, reflecting on the meaning of some of the carols, and eating all different kinds of Christmas cookies. There's no charge for this festive event. You can call or email me to let me know you're coming, or you can just show up.

     Three great things to think about! Happy Monday!

     Woof! My name is Abbey, and I'm the family dog that lives at Country Comforts Assisted Living. Mim and Marian are my moms. Marian was struggling with her blog this morning, so I offered to write it for her. This one should be easy. It's Thanksgiving this week, and boy, do I ever have a lot to be thankful for. But before I go on and on about what I'm thankful for, let me tell you a little about me.

     I guess I'm approaching my mature years, although I think I'm still in my prime. In calendar years, I'm 8, which you people translate into about 56 dog years. Whatever. I don't really remember my parents because I was separated from them at a fairly young age. I've been told that one of them was a beautiful golden retriever, and the other was a beagle with a nose to die for - it could sniff out anything and follow any trail for miles and miles. I have the best traits of both parents - I'm beautiful and I have an amazingly sensitive nose. I'll try to insert a photo of me into this post, if I can figure out how.

     My early years were rough. I spent time in 3 different homes before I found my way to Country Comforts. The little boy in my third home let me move to Country Comforts because they promised me an endless supply of grandmas to love me. Can you imagine anything better than that?

     And that's my biggest gift to be thankful for - all the grandmas I've had over the last 5 years. Doris... Mary... Patti... For the last 3 years my favorite grandma is Edith. She's the one in the picture with me at the bottom of this post, if I can get the picture uploaded. I spend hours every day lying next to her chair, and she pets me constantly, not intermittently, constantly! Oh, I love her touch. She talks to me, too, and calls me her kid. At suppertime she holds my dish for me so I don't have to stretch down to the floor for my food. When it's her mealtime she sometimes sneaks some food to me when my moms are looking the other way. She's awesome. I love her so much, and I'm so thankful for her.

     I have lots of other things to be thankful for, too. One or both of my moms take me for a long walk at least twice a day. I don't like it that they always hook me up to a leash, but I guess they just don't trust my super keen sense of smell. They're afraid I'll pick up a scent and run off wherever the trail leads. Yeah, they're right. That's what I'd do. I'd come home eventually, but they're scared that I'd get hurt or lost. Wouldn't you think they'd figure out that if I could follow the trail of a strange scent, I could pick up my own trail to lead me home? Anyway, at least I get two good long walks every day. I just love being outside, exploring all the smells, sounds, and sights of the countryside. I'm also thankful for a nice warm and dry house to come home to, especially now that winter is right around the corner.

     There's so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful that God has given me a loving family, a steady supply of food, a warm house, daily adventures, and most of all, an endless supply of grandmas. It's good to take time to think about how kind and generous God is. If I were a cat, I'd be purring right now thinking about it. But since God blessed me by making me a dog, I'll wag my tail as I insert my picture.

     The first woman to respond to the jail chaplain's question said, "What am I thankful for? I'm thankful that I'm here right where I am - in jail - where I'm safe. And, I'm thankful that I don't have to worry. God is with me."

     The woman sitting next to her in the circle responded, "Me? I'm thankful that my kids are being well taken care of while I'm in jail."

     The next woman said, "I'm thankful for the wonderful women in my cell block. They're really kind and caring."

     As we went around the circle during the women's worship service in the jail chapel last week, talking about what we're thankful for, I said I was thankful for lots of little things as well as the big things. Like that day, I was thankful that Mim gave me a ride to jail and dropped me off at the door so I didn't have to find parking and walk a few blocks in the cold, wintry weather. I was also thankful that I could play the piano for the worship service for all these women. It's an honor to be part of their worship circle.

     Part of the Scripture that we read was from Matthew 25, the section where Jesus says,

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.... Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. [NRSV]

     Some of the women smiled as we read the "I was in prison" part. Or, maybe they were smiling at the part that said, "these who are members of my family."

     One of the things I'm most thankful for this year is the inspiration I receive almost every time I go to the jail worship service. God truly is present in jail, and I get to be a witness to that.

     What are you thankful for? The chaplain gave us a good question to think about and to talk about with the people in our circle of family and friends.

     My week on retreat at Christmas Mountain was very refreshing and productive. I played my keyboard a little, read a little, but mostly I felt like writing again. I picked up my in-progress book on hospitality. My vision for this book is to share what I have learned about hospitality through my life experiences thus far, and hopefully, inspire others to think about ways to practice hospitality themselves. I believe that one of the key messages of the Bible is a directive to be hospitable to each other, but for some reason, that message has been missed by our society.

     My book, with a working title of Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest, is a collection of very short stories of Mim's and my experiences with practicing (and sometimes failing to practice) hospitality. Some of the stories are from our years in Chicago. Others are from our years of running Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast, Country Comforts Assisted Living, and Whispering Winds Retreat Haven.

     Since these stories are what's on my mind this week, I decided to share one of them in today's blog post. This one is from the part of the book about Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast.

     The first time Jeannie and Steve came to Country Comforts was on the Fourth of July. They wanted to escape the noise and air pollution of traffic and fireworks at Warner Park, which was near their home in Madison. They appreciated the peace and quiet of Country Comforts, and became frequent guests, especially during noisy holidays. This particular visit was after they had been coming to Country Comforts for a couple years, and they felt very much at home with us.

     As with most of our guests, we often had very interesting and quite lengthy conversations over breakfast. One, in particular, I will never forget.

     Steve had been diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer, and they had come to Country Comforts to recuperate after having been in the hospital a few days for treatment. Our other guests that weekend were a priest from Minnesota and a hospital administrator from a Chicago suburb. The priest and the hospital administrator had been childhood friends in Chicago and were meeting at Country Comforts to catch up on each other's lives.

     The conversation at breakfast turned to talking about people that we admire the most. The hospital administrator said that, without a doubt, the person he most admires is his younger brother, a nurse, who is the most caring person he has ever met.

     Steve said that he could understand that, because his nurse in the hospital earlier that week had been the kindest, most caring person he had ever met.

     As they continued talking about the person they most admired, they realized that the hospital administrator's brother had been Steve's nurse in the hospital the previous week. With that discovery, we all felt a sense of awe. This confirmed what we already suspected, that God pays attention to our lives, and sometimes, maybe God really does arrange "chance meetings" like this to help us understand that we're all connected.


    

Quietness is the classroom where you learn to hear My voice. [Jesus Calling, October 30.]

     I'm going to "the classroom of quietness" this week. I'm ready for some quiet retreat time. As usual, I'll pack some books, a hymnal, my piano keyboard, my computer, and some food, and drive to our Christmas Mountain timeshare in the Dells.

     Last week was a busy, but wonderful week. Pastor Joan Gunderman and I spent the week together at Whispering Winds, brainstorming and planning the ministry focus and activities for Whispering Winds for 2012. In addition to offering new day-long retreats on topics such as "Forgiveness" and "Spiritual Gifts," we are exploring the possibility of developing a few "E-Retreats" for people who cannot easily get away from home to come to Whispering Winds. When Joan and I talked about some of the books we each have been reading, we thought about holding some book discussions at Whispering Winds. We'll provide a list of some of the best books we've read, and then schedule dates to hold discussions on these books at Whispering Winds, possibly once a month. (Let me know if you would like to suggest a book for our reading list.) I'll tell you more about the Retreats, E-Retreats, and Book Discussions on this blog as we move beyond the planning stages and actually begin to offer these resources.

     Last week was a very exciting week of brainstorming and planning. Now it's time for a quiet week, and I am even more excited about this week than last week. I can hardly wait to get settled into the timeshare and take all the time I want to read, write, play my digital piano, think, and listen to the Spirit.

     I've planned one significant "recess" from this "classroom of quietness." On Saturday (November 5), I'll drive to Verona to see the live performance of actor Brad Sherrill in "Red Letter Jesus" at the Verona Area Performing Arts Center (300 Richard Street, Verona, WI 53593). After I watched the YouTube video of excerpts from "Red Letter Jesus" (click here) I knew I really wanted to see this live multimedia performance. The reviews of Brad Sherrill's performances of "Red Letter Jesus" and other Biblical presentations confirmed my decision.

THE NEW YORK TIMES:  A famously compelling tale. Mr. Sherrill is a poised performer with a subtle physical grace.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE:  Refreshing. It's a testament to his warmth and charisma... and his ability to touch an audience... that Sherrill makes every segment of this transcendent theatrical event seem as if he is saying the words for the first time.

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION:  An amazing achievement... a transforming two hours of theater... riveting.

THE WASHINGTON POST:  The Good Book gets even better... 'John' brings the New Testament to life.

     Tickets are still available through the Mind-Soul.com website. If you have any questions, you can call Deb Schroeder at 608-848-8448. Deb is the entrepreneur behind Mind & Soul, LLC. Deb's vision for this new business is to bring inspiring events like this to the Madison area, events that feed both the mind and the soul.

     After "recess" I'll go back to the "classroom of quietness" for another day before returning to my daily routines. In the Jesus Calling entry for October 30, Jesus has more to say about quietness. Quietness is the classroom where you learn to hear My voice. Beginners need a quiet place in order to still their minds. As you advance in this discipline, you gradually learn to carry the stillness with you wherever you go. God has promised to be near us wherever we are. We just need to quiet ourselves to be able to hear God, to be truly aware of God's presence with us at all times.

     Early this morning as Mim and I were walking Abbey, I was explaining to Mim that my brand new smartphone, which I just got on Friday, appears to have stopped receiving emails sometime on Saturday. I checked for emails on my laptop, and got caught up with email correspondence this morning, but I was concerned that my phone wasn't helping me stay wired to my virtual world. Mim's response was, "Have you read today's Jesus Calling yet?" No, I hadn't. When we finished our walk with Abbey, I poured a cup of coffee, sat down and read it.

JESUS CALLING, October 24 (References: Psalm 23:1-3, Genesis 2:2-3; Luke 1:79)

     Lie down in green pastures of Peace. Learn to unwind whenever possible, resting in the Presence of your Shepherd. This electronic age keeps My children "wired" much of the time, too tense to find Me in the midst of their moments. I built into your very being the need for rest. How twisted the world has become when people feel guilty about meeting this basic need! How much time and energy they waste by being always on the go, rather than taking time to seek My direction for their lives.

     I have called you to blaze a trail for others who desire to live in My peaceful Presence. I have chosen you less for your strengths than for your weaknesses, which amplify your need for Me. Depend on Me more and more, and I will shower Peace on all your paths.

     I continue to be amazed how often the daily reflection in Jesus Calling is exactly what I need to hear Jesus telling me right at that moment. Whispering Winds Retreat Haven is the trail God is helping me blaze - a place where we can all learn to live in God's peaceful Presence. A place where we can rest, and feel loved and protected by God. A safe haven. A place to unwind. Obviously, I need a place like this just as much as everyone else does. It's timely that God chose to remind me of that just when my smartphone stopped sending me real-time interruptions every few minutes.

God, my Shepherd! I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
You find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
You let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
[Psalm 23:1-3, The Message]

 
What do the following things have in common:

• A used car, about 15 years old
• 6 cows from Heifer International
• A 60-inch flat screen TV
• A dental implant of a single tooth

     Do you ever think about what kinds of things you like to think about? Regardless of how busy we are, we all have times when we're doing things that are called "mindless activities" - things we don't have to think about while we're doing them, so we can be thinking about something else - like when we're mowing the lawn, raking leaves, walking the dog, emptying the dishwasher, and so on.

     Do you ever wonder why certain thoughts just seem to pop into your mind? Do we really have any control over what comes to mind?

     For me, something that's been coming to mind frequently over the past six weeks is what Joan Chittister said in her September "Monastic Way" pamphlet on the theme of work. I quoted her in this blog a few weeks ago - Work is the gift we give to the world. That's why it's so important that what we do for a living has value, not simply for ourselves but for the world at-large. That statement has been coming to mind frequently as my mind drifts to the work I do, or when I think about my nephew who is a carpenter with a broken arm right now, and when I watched the movie "The Company Men" where the work done by these men is very far removed from any tangible benefit to the "world at-large."

     Interesting, the things we think about in our "free time." One way I try to seed my mind with uplifting things to think about is by reading Jesus Calling every morning. I also seed my mind by the books and magazines I read, the TV shows I watch, the music I play on the piano and listen to on the radio, and the people I talk with. (I also try to avoid seeding my mind with ugly things, like images of snakes and worms and any kind of violence, as much as possible!)

     Last week Deb Schroeder, a friend from Verona, came to Whispering Winds for coffee and conversation about how our businesses could complement each other for the mutual benefit of our ministries. That conversation is partly what prompted today's musing on what things we think about. The mission of her company, Mind & Soul LLC, is to present quality programs on elements of faith, spirituality, and life, and to assist people to connect on a deeper level with each other, and with God.

     Deb is convinced that churches often tell people what to think regarding religious matters, but they don't really provide people creative opportunities to explore new ideas and grow in their faith and understanding of God. The role of her business is to be a promoter of such events in the Madison area.

     She has two events scheduled in the next couple months:

Red Letter Jesus. Jesus in His own words. An unforgettable live performance with actor Brad Sherrill. Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the Verona Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Deb's website, www.mind-soul.com provides a link to a YouTube video of this performance. After viewing this video, I decided to make it a priority to clear my schedule for this performance. I'm sure it will be filled with great thoughts to be seeding in my subconscious.

Advent by Candlelight for Men & Women. Music, inspiration and dessert! Sunday, November 27, 2011 at the Verona Senior Center at 6:30 p.m. More details on this event are also available on www.mind-soul.com.

     Deb and I talked about writers, theologians, and performing artists she would like to bring to the area. Some of the smaller events may be scheduled at Whispering Winds. We had a great conversation!

     Back to my earlier question for today - Do we really have any control over what thoughts come to mind? I remember the Bible says something about that so I googled "think on these things" - the key words I remembered. The verse that came back is Philippians 4:8 - Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (New Revised Standard Version)

     I certainly don't believe that I have complete control over what thoughts pop into my mind. But, I know that I have some control by choosing to seed my mind on a regular basis, so that I am prepared to "think on these things" when I'm busy with "mindless activities."

 
     Yesterday was our first taste of Indian Summer this fall. After several days of temperatures in the 40s, heavy winds, and rain, we were definitely ready for sunshine and warmer temperatures. We went to early church, and then out to brunch to celebrate a friend's birthday. Then home to enjoy a beautiful day of rest. I sat outside to read the Sunday paper. The warm sun and soothing gentle breezes made me sleepy, so I went inside for a little nap. An hour later I got up to try out some new piano music I picked up last week. It was a perfect, peaceful day, about to get even better.

     We decided to drive to Frosty-Freeze in Fort for some ice cream. Edith and Anna, our assisted living residents, enjoyed strawberry sundaes. Mim and I had Heath Bar Candy-Freezes with Mocha ice cream. I couldn't believe our favorite flavor was the special flavor of the week for the last week of the season. Frosty-Freeze closes for the season this week.

     According to this morning's weather forecast, all week is supposed to be warm and sunny. We're planning to enjoy as many "last tastes of summer" as we can all week long. Tonight I think I'll grill brats. Our cherry tomatoes next to the kitchen at Whispering Winds appear to have survived the nightly frosts so far, so we'll be able to top our salads with our own vine-ripened tomatoes for at least another week.

     Abbey (our beagle-golden retriever mix) is enjoying the "last tastes of summer" too. Her new favorite is grasshoppers. She's not fussy - dead or alive is fine. On our walks she is on the lookout for those smashed by cars as well as those hopping beside the road. She'll dart after either kind. Every walk is a generous feast for her. I'm sure she's just as thankful for grasshoppers as we are for all the delicious "last tastes of summer" that we're savoring.

     "Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see - how good God is."  (Psalm 34:8 - THE MESSAGE paraphrase)

 
     Almost every morning Mim and I take Abbey (our beagle-golden retriever mix) on a 2-mile walk, mostly down Highland Road, past Whispering Winds and down to the creek. A few days ago, as we were walking past the next farmhouse on Highland, a squirrel high up in a hickory tree near the road scolded us and started throwing nuts down at us. Fortunately, the squirrel had poor aim and none of the nuts hit us. But now, every morning, as we approach that tree, Abbey looks up high to see if that mean squirrel is about to attack us with hickory nuts again. So far, we've been safe.

     Our walk last Saturday morning was a noisy one. We looked up to see about a dozen geese in rather poor formation flying NORTH, and having quite a discussion about it. Either their leader was confused and was attempting to lead the flock in the wrong direction, or they were headed for a nearby gathering spot to join a larger contingent of geese that would be heading south.

     Further along the walk we passed the woods and overheard an angry squabble among the crows. I don't know what they were arguing about, but it was obvious that there was strong disagreement.

     Last Thursday was the first day of fall - one of my four favorite seasons. Whenever there is a transition from one season to the next, tensions can get high. I'm sure the squirrel was busily gathering nuts for the winter when we came along and were seen as a threat to her harvest. The geese were probably excited about going south for the winter, but a little anxious about their long, strenuous journey. I bet the crows were arguing about how long the cornfield just down the road would still be there. Everyone was dealing with mixed blessings - a bountiful harvest along with the threat of someone taking it; the excitement of a long journey along with some apprehension about getting lost.

     For me, the mixed blessings of fall include taking a scenic drive to an orchard to get apples and freshly squeezed cider; stopping at a roadside farm stand to choose a pumpkin and stock up on winter squash; walking the trails of CamRock Park in search of the perfect bright red maple leaf; and filling the house with the smell of ginger snaps baking in the oven. All these blessings are wonderful, but they are mixed with the need to turn up the thermostat on the furnace, get out my long johns and gloves, and pop a few more pain killers and anti-inflammatories to relieve my arthritic joints as the weather changes. But that's really more to be thankful for - the fact that I have a furnace, long johns, gloves, and medicine.

     God has filled every season with a wealth of mixed blessings. Discovering the blessings is half the fun.

     HAPPY FALL!

Sunday afternoon we went to hear the Madison Symphony Orchestra perform in Overture Hall. It was a wonderful concert - a Grieg piano concerto with Andre Watts as the guest pianist, a Beethoven symphony, and a new piece by John Adams called "On the Transmigration of Souls" - a piece written in 2002 for the first anniversary of 9/11. This piece began softly with recorded sounds of traffic. Then a voice from one side of the Hall said the name of someone lost in the 9/11 tragedy. A voice behind us said another name. Individual instruments picked up a theme. There were multiple layers of street sounds, solo voices reading names, voices repeating single words like "missing" and "light" and "love," a full chorus building to a peak with the words, "I know just where he is," and the full symphony playing ferociously, then quietly. Throughout this intense 25-minute piece, the reading of individual names was always there. The last words of the piece were "I love you."

Over the past few weeks, there have been many events designed to help us remember 9/11. The reading of the names of the people who were lost in the 9/11 attacks has been one way of remembering and honoring those who died. The solemn reading of names. Why is that significant?

Names. Remember "The Names Project" that was started in 1987 to create "The AIDS Quilt"? Friends and family members of people who were victims of the AIDS epidemic were invited to create a 3' by 6' (coffin-size) quilt panel to honor their loved one. These panels have been stitched together to create a giant quilt, a quilt that is still growing in size. Currently, more than 91,000 people are named on the quilt.

Names. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is also made up of names - the 58,175 service members who died in the Vietnam War. Every year about 3 million people go to see the memorial, to read names, to find the name of a loved one, and often to trace that name as it's engraved on the monument.

Why are names so significant? Why do we use lists of names to commemorate large numbers of people who have died tragically? That's what I started thinking about as I was listening to "On the Transmigration of Souls" yesterday afternoon.

"I love you" - the last words in "On the Transmigration of Souls" hints at the significance. A name may represent the soul of our loved one who is no longer with us. A name may remind us of that person and our relationship, the love that we shared and continue to feel. Even though our loved one's soul has moved on to another place, and our soul has been changed by the loss, the love still may be present. Saying a name in a musical setting, stitching a name in a quilt, or tracing a name on a monument is honoring that love, that relationship, and our memory of that soul.

These thoughts led me to think about what's written in the Bible about names. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, calls his sheep by name. The sheep know his voice and follow him. (John 10:3-4) Perhaps, on the other side, Jesus is calling the names of our loved ones, not with sadness, but with a delighted "welcome home."

     In fifth grade we had picture studies. Mrs. Borgerud held up a reproduction of a famous painting, and the whole class looked at it intently, trying to discover new details to point out to the rest of the class. Mrs. Borgerud patiently taught us to put all those details together to understand what the artist was trying to say to us through that painting.

     Joan Chittister, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and a prolific author, writes a monthly pamphlet called "The Monastic Way." This pamphlet is described on her website (www.joanchittister.org) as "a monthly publication with daily reflections to help you walk through life whole and holy."

     This year, each month's pamphlet includes a reproduction of a painting, her general thoughts about what the artist is trying to communicate through the painting, and then a single paragraph for each day - a meditation on spiritual insights suggested by the painting.

     The painting for September is "The Gleaners" by Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875). The painting shows three peasant women gathering wheat left behind after the field has been harvested. The insight for the first day in September is: Work is the gift we give to the world. That's why it's so important that what we do for a living has value, not simply for ourselves but for the world at-large.

     I first saw this pamphlet in the chapel of the jail where I play the piano for the worship service for women inmates. Jail ministry is a particular concern of Joan Chittister. Her website provides the opportunity to make donations so that "The Monastic Way" can be given to inmates in prisons throughout the country. However, this pamphlet isn't written just for prisoners. Anyone can subscribe to "The Monastic Way" from the website. I highly recommend subscribing and reading it regularly. The two minutes it takes to read the daily paragraph in the pamphlet pays you back with a kernel of wisdom to think about throughout the day.

     I wonder if Joan Chittister had a fifth grade teacher like Mrs. Borgerud. She certainly has learned how to study pictures well. She has brought back memories for me of picture studies with Mrs. Borgerud, and she has inspired me to look more deeply into some of the pictures we have hanging on the walls at Whispering Winds. As I'm writing this, I'm looking at a picture of a stream of water that is flowing through an autumn woods. The water is flowing toward me. I can see where it has come from, but I can't see where it is going next... There are a lot more details to examine and think about. Thanks to "The Monastic Way" I am going to take some time to do that.

     
     Church hymnals. That's what I collect. Current hymnals and songbooks of the major denominations in the area, earlier hymnals of the same denominations, hymnals from my childhood, hymnals my parents and grandparents grew up with - that's what I collect. My collection had grown to well over a hundred hymnals. When we moved to the condo I decided to pare my collection down to about 30 of my favorites. But as any collector of anything knows, my collection is growing again. In resale shops and in religious bookstores, I always end up in the book section, looking for the hymnals.

     Friday evening I spent a couple hours with my newest acquisition, The New National Baptist Hymnal, copyright 1977 by Triad Publications, Nashville. I had picked it up a few weeks ago at the Hospice Thrift Store in Madison. On Friday evening, I was expecting guests to arrive at Whispering Winds about 7:00 p.m. I did a little extra cleaning, cut some flowers, and made some iced tea while I waited for them. By 8:00 I decided to sit down at the piano and start playing through my most recently acquired hymnal. For the next couple hours I had a wonderful time. There were lots of old Gospel songs, like “Wonderful Words of Life,” “Softly and Tenderly,” and “Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” There were songs that were popular in church when I was a teenager, like “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow,” and “My God is Real.” There were some newer African American songs like “We’ve Come This Far by Faith.” And, there was a new discovery for me, another song by Thomas A. Dorsey, “The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow.” (Thomas A. Dorsey is best known for “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and “Peace in the Valley” – also in this hymnal.)

     The guests never did arrive at Whispering Winds. I tried calling them several times, between hymns, but I never got an answer nor an opportunity to leave a voicemail. But that’s OK for me. (I hope they’re OK, too.) I had a wonderful time praising God, reliving memories associated with lots of old Gospel songs, and discovering new old hymns of praise and reflection.

     Every hymnal has a lot of the same hymns, but every hymnal also has at least a few hymns that I’ve never heard before – and many of those hymns become new treasures to me.

     I think that’s the real reason God let the Christian church form so many denominations – so that each church could create its own style of music to praise God, and so that each church’s members could share their “testimonies” in their own musical style. And best of all, the world has received a wonderful treasure chest of church hymnals.

(Quoted in The Echo Within: Finding Your True Calling by Robert Benson, Waterbrook Press, Colorado Springs, 2009.)

     This is one of the best little books I’ve read in the past couple years. It’s less than 200 pages long with only about 150 words on a page – definitely a quick, easy read. Robert Benson is a great story teller. The book is fun to read. I smiled a lot, as I read, and re-read it. It’s about figuring out what you’re supposed to do and be in life. It’s an excellent career planning resource if you’re a young person thinking about possible occupations. It’s even better yet if you’re in the middle of your working life and thinking you might have “missed the boat,” or may be finding it necessary to make a career change because of the economy. Or perhaps, the book will be most meaningful to you if you’re approaching retirement or are retired and are looking back on your life to see what you have become.

     As I look back over my varied career from English teacher to business person to owner of a B&B-style retreat center, this book prompted me to think about the things I liked and didn’t like about each of my jobs, and about what I’m doing now, and how all of these experiences have influenced who I am today.

     I highly recommend The Echo Within. It is available in our small library at Whispering Winds. It can be purchased online through Amazon.com, as well as other online and brick-and-mortar bookstores.

        Speaking of what I’m doing now, August has been a wonderful month at Whispering Winds. We welcomed 21 guests – a few guests staying one night, one guest staying eleven nights, and most guests staying two or three nights. Some were here for a personal spiritual retreat, and left feeling nicely refreshed. Others came for a family reunion and enjoyed the sprawling lawn for games and visiting outdoors. Three couples stayed here after going to the Fireside Theater to see the musical “David.” They stayed a second night to be able to spend more time together, playing cards in the gazebo, and just enjoying each other’s company.

     Personally, my “echo within” is resonating warmly to be welcoming all these guests to Whispering Winds where they can – be still and be renewed by the Spirit… and relax in the peace and quiet of the country.

     A brief reminder, we’re currently offering a “Double Welcome” gift certificate.  If you come to Whispering Winds for a 2-night or longer getaway before September 30, 2011, we will give you a 2-night gift certificate so that you can come back for another getaway, or you can give your gift certificate to a friend. Call 608-212-6197 or email MarianKorth@gmail.com for details.

     This is a good year for cherry tomatoes at Whispering Winds. In the spring I planted a couple plants of my favorite variety, “Sweet 100” and one new variety that was simply identified on the tag as “large red cherry tomato.” For the past few weeks Charlie Chipmunk and I have been sharing an early abundance of the “large red cherry tomatoes” and a few of the “Sweet 100’s.” Charlie has decided that every tomato he tastes is worth eating in its entirety – no more taking one bite out of the tomato and then moving on to the next one like he did last year. This way, there are plenty of tomatoes for both of us, and for our guests, too. Unfortunately, Charlie has figured out that the “Sweet 100’s” are the sweetest of all tomatoes, so he gets most of them. But the “large red cherry tomatoes” are good, too, so everyone is happy.

     This is also a good year for thistles. That might not seem like a good thing, unless you’re a goldfinch, or someone who loves to see goldfinches. They’re my favorite songbird. Seeing a goldfinch perched on top of a bright purple thistle blossom reminds me of taking walks with my mom and seeing goldfinches perched on thistles along the roadside. She called them “wild canaries.” I’ve seen more goldfinches this year than ever. Almost every time I take a walk I see one or two, and smile.

     Late summer is a time of enjoying the abundance in God’s creation – the abundance of cherry tomatoes if you’re a person or a chipmunk; the abundance of thistle seeds if you’re a goldfinch.

Several times throughout a person’s lifetime, a milestone is passed that signifies a change into a new stage in life. For example, when you turn 21, you become an “adult,” whatever that means. When you turn 30, it’s time to settle down. At 50, there’s no doubting that you are past your prime physically, but you are still accumulating a significant store of wisdom from your life experiences and that process is continuing upward – you are becoming wiser every year.

But it’s not just birthdays that signify progression to a new stage in life. Graduation. A first full-time job. A first promotion. Forming a family. Losing a parent…

Whenever one of these transitions occurs, it’s normal to reflect on how your life is changing. For example, when I turned 50, I remember thinking that I really didn’t feel like I thought 50-year-olds felt. I remember thinking, how should I act now that I’m 50. The 17^th century French writer Francois de la Rochefoucault put it this way, “We come fresh to the different stages of life, and in each of them we are quite inexperienced, no matter how old we are.”

So why I am reflecting on life stages? I’m 63 years old, and I went shopping for a new bicycle last week. The young man who helped me at the Budget Bicycle Center in Madison treated me very respectfully. He didn’t laugh at me nor treat me condescendingly when I asked very elementary questions, like why is a $550 bike from his shop better than a $279 bike from Farm & Fleet? I was clearly out of my comfort zone, surrounded by a sea of 2,000 bicycles and half a dozen young men who were very much into the sport of biking. I was looking for a cheap, simple bike that I could ride the mile back and forth between Whispering Winds and our condo. Nothing fancy. Simple transportation that would be a healthy alternative to driving my car.

Much to my surprise, I ended up buying a 3-wheeler – a tricycle!  I still can hardly admit that I’m one of those old people who ride those cute but clunky things. I’m calling it my “mini-truck” because it has a large basket between the two wheels in back. I’m rationalizing getting the trike as an environmentally friendlier means of carrying things back and forth between the condo and the farm. It’s also good exercise for me. But, it’s making me think about this next stage in my life as a rider of a 3-wheeler.

It’s actually kind of fun to ride. People look at me a little funny. I guess some of them are as surprised as I am that I’ve moved on to this next stage in my life. But, you should see all the stuff I can pack into that back basket! I guess I see myself more as a responsible driver of a mini-truck than as a rider of an adult tricycle.

One more transition down… And my store of wisdom is still growing…

      “This I know.”

     Last Thursday I went to the county jail again to play the piano for the women’s worship service. After the usual worship and sharing time, the chaplain invited the women to share in communion. This is the first time I have participated in a jail service in which communion has been offered.

     Before we shared the bread and wine (grape juice), the chaplain asked us to go around the circle, and for each one of us to tell the group what communion means to us personally. The first woman said she didn’t know what communion is. Another woman said communion makes her think about Jesus dying on the cross. The woman sitting on my right said that she never got to have her first communion. Her older sister did, but her family moved before she was old enough to have hers.

     When it was my turn, I said communion reminds me of how much God loves me, and that as a church organist, I’m usually playing the piano or organ during communion, and I try to play music that will prompt people to think about how much God loves them, too. One inmate piped up with “Jesus Loves Me. That says it all. I love that song. We sang it last time.”

Jesus loves me, this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me,
The Bible tells me so.

     That reminded me of the first time I played for an old-fashioned hymn sing in a church, almost 20 years ago. I had been surprised when a 90-year-old woman called out “Jesus Loves Me” as the song she wanted us to sing. I am no longer surprised by that request. Almost every hymn sing I play for, that song is requested, by people of all ages. That song really does say it all. God loves us. “This I know.”

     Last week I spent a lot of time thinking again about our dreams for Whispering Winds Retreat Haven, a place we have described as “a bed and breakfast on a mission.” A couple friends helped me go through a process to refine our vision and plan some of the next stages in the life of Whispering Winds.

     Our vision for Whispering Winds is stated on the header of our website:

A place to be still and be renewed by the Spirit
A place to relax in the peace and quiet of the country

     We want Whispering Winds to be a welcoming place for individuals and small groups to be spiritually and physically renewed.

     Over the past couple years we have developed Whispering Winds in three areas:

• Peaceful Getaways (bed and breakfast accommodations)
• Spiritual Retreats
• Spiritual Direction
  

     We are planning to continue to develop each of the three areas. We have some exciting new ideas for each area.  In today’s blog post I want to talk about “Peaceful Getaways.” At another time, I’ll talk about the other areas.

     In the eyes of the law of Wisconsin, we are a bed and breakfast. That’s how we are licensed. Some of you may remember our Cambridge farmhouse as Country Comforts Bed & Breakfast. We catered to people looking for a peaceful getaway. “Relax in the peace and quiet of the country” was our tagline. When we closed Country Comforts Bed & Breakfast to become Country Comforts Assisted Living, we said that we might go back to being a bed and breakfast at some time, but we weren’t sure. Well, we did, with the new name of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven. Our emphasis is still peaceful getaways. Whether guests are coming to stay because they want to read, pray, and meditate, or because they want a comfortable bed in a quiet setting within a couple hours of Chicago, they are very welcome at Whispering Winds.

     We want more people to know about us as a B&B so that they can enjoy the peacefulness that Whispering Winds offers. We have expanded our presence on the Internet. Besides our own website, www.WhisperingWindsRetreatHaven.com, we are also listed on several B&B directories, including www.BedAndBreakfast.com and www.BBonline.com. One of the most fun B&B directories to be on is www.TripAdvisor.com. That website is basically a place for guests to write reviews of their stay with us. It’s an easy-to-navigate place to compare B&Bs (as well as other travel-related services). To help us spread the word about Whispering Winds, I’ve asked several guests to write reviews for us on www.TripAdvisor.com. What’s fun about this, at least so far, is that all of the reviews have been very complimentary. The praise makes us feel good about what Whispering Winds is becoming. For example,

It surpassed our expectations.
 A place of peace, comfort, and renewal…
We would highly recommend this getaway which is close to Madison,
but occupies its own unique space with a rural feel of country hospitality.

No place I’d rather stay than Whispering Winds…

A Beautiful Oasis…
My friend and I picked this retreat center from the Internet last year
and have been going back ever since…
My friend calls it an anointed place and I agree.
Well worth a visit!

Home away from home.
Beautiful, peaceful house;
kind and generous hospitality.
Great as a quiet getaway…

     Other things we’re doing to build the “Peaceful Getaway” part of Whispering Winds are: providing the capability to check availability and make reservations online from our website, and accepting credit cards for payment. We also have a page on Facebook, and we are exploring other online tools. We are beginning to sell gift certificates for “Personal Getaways” at Whispering Winds. But the very best way to build the “Peaceful Getaway” ministry of Whispering Winds is for our guests and other friends to tell their friends about us. We would like to invite you to help us build this ministry by:

• Become a “fan” of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven on Facebook.
• If you have been a guest of Whispering Winds, write a review on www.TripAdvisor.com.
• Check out our website to find out more about us – and tell your friends about our website.
• Come to Whispering Winds for a “Peaceful Getaway” yourself, or buy a Gift Certificate for a friend.
• Recommend Whispering Winds to out-of-town friends and relatives who may be coming to the Cambridge or Madison area on business or vacation.

     Thanks! We appreciate your helping us develop all the ministries of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven.

     Hi. My name is Gary Gopher. I live on the grounds of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven, along with my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and about a hundred cousins. I am so thankful that God has given us such a wonderful place to live. I have some distant cousins who live in more urban areas, and they really have a rough life with all the concrete, pollution, congestion, and crime. Personally, I thank God every day for the peace and quiet of Whispering Winds.

     We live in a three-acre pastoral setting – lots of grass with dozens of cooling shade trees. It’s almost like living in a park with rose beds, flowering trees and bushes, patches of asparagus and rhubarb, even a few cherry tomato plants. But the best part is the huge maple trees that shade the grounds, providing natural air conditioning.

     We have an amazing network of tunnels under the lawn, with lots of entrances. The most fun I have – and this is almost every day – is playing tag with Abbey, the dog that lives with the caretakers of our estate. As soon as Abbey sees me, she starts stalking, like she thinks I don’t see her coming. When she gets a few yards away she takes off with the fastest run she can muster, and I simply duck into the entrance to my tunnel, laughing my head off. Life is wonderful! I’m truly blessed.

     I have to confess that I’m really sorry for something I did, rather thoughtlessly, a couple weeks ago. I decided to dig another entrance to our tunnel network, one close to the front door of the house. I like to hang around the front porch to watch the people who come to Whispering Winds for a peaceful getaway. It’s fun to compare their attitudes between when they come to begin their peaceful getaway, and when they leave. A couple days here really makes a difference. Some of them leave remarkably refreshed. Anyway, I like to watch them up close, which is why I dug the new entrance near the front door. Well, I damaged the roots to one of the Russian Cypress shrubs with my digging. Now it’s dying, branch by branch. I am so sorry. I really don’t know what to do. I talked with God about my mistake. You know, God still loves me. I’m not sure about the caretakers of Whispering Winds, but I’m sure about God.

     Isn’t that just like God? First, God blesses us with this wonderful place to live and to share with others who need a little peaceful getaway. Then, when we mess it up a little, God still loves us. The Russian Cypress is still dying, but I think I see a mum plant that moved in last year begin to fill in the space where the Russian Cypress used to be. Amazing! I’ll be careful not to dig under the mum. I promise. I want to see it in full bloom in another month or two.

     Like I said. I am truly blessed to live on the grounds of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven.

     “Testimony” – That’s a word I haven’t thought much about until recently.  Wikipedia defines “testimony” as: In law and religion, testimony is a solemn attestation to the truth of a matter.

     My earliest association with the word “testimony” goes back to my growing-up Methodist days. On Sunday evenings, our church had an informal service that began with a time of singing and testimonies. We would sing about a dozen gospel songs, interspersed with people standing up to give their testimony – telling the congregation about when they became a Christian or about how God was helping them get through whatever “trial” they were facing at the time.

     Now, after 50 years, the word “testimony” is creeping back into my mind. For the past several months I’ve been volunteering at the county jail a couple times a month. I play the piano for the women’s worship service in the chapel of the jail. When it’s time for the worship service, a guard escorts anywhere from two to a dozen inmates into the chapel. The women sit on chairs arranged in a circle. The guard leaves, slides the door shut, and locks it. Worship begins. The chaplain welcomes everyone and explains the rules – everything said in chapel stays in chapel. The chaplain introduces the theme for the day in about two or three minutes. Then we sing a hymn. The women sing enthusiastically, whatever the hymn, but their favorite is “Amazing Grace.” I accompany the singing from the piano, then return to the circle.

     Next comes the time to read Scripture. Some of the women have brought their own Bibles. The rest of us get Bibles from the bookshelf in the chapel. The chaplain divides the group into two parts to read the first selection responsively. For the next reading, we go around the circle, each of us reading a couple verses. We stand for the reading of the Gospel. Sometimes the chaplain reads the Gospel; sometimes someone else does.

     Next comes the part of the service called “Testimony.” We go around the circle, each woman talking for a couple minutes about how the Scripture readings are speaking to her, or about whatever else is on her mind. Often the testimonies are about trusting God to be watching out for their children while they are incarcerated. Other testimonies are about apprehension or excitement about upcoming court dates, or whatever else is coming up next for them. Sometimes that might be going home.

     Then it’s time for prayer.  It begins with 5 – 10 minutes of quiet time when each woman writes down her own prayer requests to give to the chaplain. During this time I play quiet background music. If women have talked about their children during the testimony time, I might play “Jesus Loves Me” or “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” If they have talked about being apprehensive about what’s coming up next for them, I might play “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” After everyone has finished writing their prayer requests and given them to the chaplain, I rejoin the circle. One by one, each person prays out loud for the person on her right around the circle. It’s a comforting feeling to hear the person on my left praying for me, and then I can offer that same comfort to the person on my right as I pray for her.

     We end the service by singing another hymn and reading a final blessing together. Then a guard comes to escort the women back to their cells.

     It is my “testimony” that God regularly attends the women’s worship service at the county jail.  God’s Spirit can be clearly seen in the sharing and caring among the women who are experiencing some very difficult times together. “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place…”

     Chipmunks don’t like green beans, or yellow beans, or purple beans. That’s great, because I do, and that’s what’s producing right now in the raised bed outside the kitchen door at Whispering Winds. Apparently, chipmunks don’t like chives, parsley, or dill either. They are patiently waiting for the cherry tomatoes to ripen. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the beans and herbs, and I’m checking daily for the first tinge of red on the tomatoes. I’ll share the cherry tomatoes with the chipmunks – I just don’t want them to take one bite out of every tomato, and not leave any for me.

     I love this time of year. The day lilies, bachelor buttons, and Queen Anne ’s lace along the roadsides are in full bloom. Cornfields are shoulder-high and wheat fields are golden-ripe, almost ready for harvest. A fresh-cut field of alfalfa has a fragrance you’ll never forget. The robins and goldfinches are singing at the top of their lungs whenever you stop to listen to them. The sights, smells, sounds and tastes of July are sensational – a pure delight to all the senses.

     “A place to relax in the peace and quiet of the country” – that’s Whispering Winds Retreat Haven. A place to peacefully sit and enjoy God’s creation on a hot summer day, or in any other season.

     Summer is my favorite season. But every season is filled with its own delights.  Right now Whispering Winds is offering “A Double Welcome.” Come for a 2-night stay before September 30, 2011 to enjoy the peace and quiet of a summertime getaway at Whispering Winds. Come back for another 2-night stay within a year for FREE. Enjoy the delights of a different season at Whispering Winds. Or, give your free 2-night stay to a friend so they can be renewed by a peaceful getaway at Whispering Winds. Call me at 608-212-6197 or email me at MarianKorth@Charter.net to make a reservation.

When you worship Me in spirit and truth, you join with choirs of angels who are continually before My throne. Though you cannot hear their voices, your praise and thanksgiving are distinctly audible in heaven… Practice praising and thanking Me continually throughout this day.
[from Jesus Calling, citing John 4:23-24 and Psalm 100:4]

Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits… A person who … does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God … does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.    Martin Luther 

At Whispering Winds, a “Spiritual Dessert” is a 2-hour evening event.  Just as a dessert is a sweet, enjoyable ending to a meal, a “Spiritual Dessert” is a sweet, enjoyable ending to your day. To be sure it’s sweet, we have coffee and desserts set out in the dining room.  As guests come, they help themselves to the food, and then wander into either the sun room or living room, wherever people are gathering.  Once everyone’s sweet tooth is satisfied, we move onto the spiritual part of the “Spiritual Dessert” – an informal discussion of a spiritual topic, led by a retreat leader.

Our first “Spiritual Dessert” was last December.  We called the event “Advent by Candlelight.”  Desserts were “Holiday Hill” (a date and nut cake molded into a mound and covered with whipped cream) and a super-rich chocolate cake. We sang a variety of Advent carols, from the mysterious “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” to the lively “Soon and Very Soon.” Then Beth O’Brien, spiritual director and retreat leader, led us in an Advent meditation as she lit the Advent candles.

The “Spiritual Dessert” we had last week was “The Spirituality of Parenting (and Grandparenting)” led by the Rev. Joan Gunderman, a Lutheran pastor from Minnesota. Throughout the evening we nibbled on home-made brownies and sugar cookies, sipped on iced tea and iced mocha, and discussed ways of guiding our children (and grandchildren) in their spiritual development.

Our next “Spiritual Dessert” will be on Tuesday evening, July 12. I’m not sure what we’ll eat yet, although it may be time for another super-rich chocolate cake, perhaps topped with ice cream. The topic will be “Talking with God through Music.” After enjoying the dessert, we’ll gather around the piano to discuss how music can help us communicate with God. We’ll talk about music in the Bible, music in the church through the ages, and music today. We’ll sing and listen to music that can help us express our feelings when we’re sad, lonely, angry, happy, and just feeling that we want to praise God.

Brian Wren, in his book Praying Twice, quotes St. Augustine, “Whoever sings to God, in worship, prays twice.” Wren goes on to say, “The epigram suggests that when we sing a praise and prayer instead of simply speaking it, we add something important to the utterance.” On Tuesday, July 12, we’ll spend the evening exploring music that will enable us to communicate more deeply with God – perhaps, to pray double-strength.

For more information about the “Spiritual Desserts” offered for the rest of this year, check out the Retreats/Public Retreats page of our website.

Do you know what God said to me this morning?

This is what I read in the devotional book, Jesus Calling for June 20. [Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, Thomas Nelson, 2008] The book is written in the first person, as though God is speaking to me directly, with Bible references provided to "prove" that God really is saying these things to me.

I speak to you continually. My nature is to communicate, though not always in words. I fling glorious sunsets across the sky, day after day. I speak in the faces and voices of loved ones. I caress you with a gentle breeze that refreshes and delights you. I speak softly in the depths of your spirit, where I have taken up residence.

You can find Me in each moment, when you have eyes that see and ears that hear. Ask My Spirit to sharpen your spiritual eyesight and hearing. I rejoice each time you discover My Presence. Practice looking and listening for Me during quiet intervals. Gradually you will find Me in more and more of your moments. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me above all else.
[Psalm 8:1-4; Psalm 19:1-2; I Corinthians 6:19; Jeremiah 29:13]

So, today I'm on a quest to find God speaking to me:

• In the red-winged blackbird that dives at my dog, Abbey, whenever we walk too close to the family's nest hidden near our path;
• In the weather God has planned for today - even if it rains;
• In the people I talk with throughout the day;
• In the emails, Facebook posts, tweets, and web pages I read;
• In the discussion on "The Spirituality of Parenting" Joan Gunderman will lead tonight at Whispering Winds.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been stretching my technical skills almost to the breaking point. The focus of my attention has been the Whispering Winds website. The plan is to implement all the changes today.

Why did I take on this challenge? I guess the best answer to that question is what I wrote on the new “About Us” page of the website:

Whispering Winds Retreat Haven is:
- A place to be still and be renewed by the Spirit…
- A place to relax in the peace and quiet of the country.

Whispering Winds is a bed & breakfast, and it’s a spiritual retreat center.

We have been blessed with a beautifully remodeled century-old farmhouse, surrounded by three acres of lawn and gardens. It is a wonderfully peaceful setting, and we want to share that peacefulness with others.

So, how do we go about sharing Whispering Winds? We need to spread the word about what we are making available to guests. Our website is one way to do that. The fun part is taking lots of pictures to show off how nice it is. I’ve scattered lots of new pictures throughout the website. (I’ve also added more pictures to the “Spring Flowers” photo album on the Whispering Winds Facebook page.)

Once people find our website, we want to make it easy for them to become guests. We now offer the ability to make reservations from the website and pay for those reservations online by credit card. That’s the hard part of the technical challenges I've been dealing with over the last couple weeks. But thanks to information shared on LinkedIn, I found out about a few businesses that have been helping me get this all set up.

I think all the technical stuff is done… You should be able to click on the “Rooms & Rates, Availability” button on the left column of the website, or on the big “Check Availability” button in the middle of the Home page, to get to the online reservations page. In test mode, it worked really well. It shows a brief description of each room, several pictures, and whether or not the room you want is available on the dates you want to book it. If it is, you can reserve the room and safely provide credit card information.

In addition to adding online reservations, I’ve also combined our previously separate B&B website and Retreat Center website into one website under the name www.WhisperingWindsRetreatHaven.com. I’ve made lots of changes, so I encourage you to browse over all the pages – and then help us spread the word about Whispering Winds to all your friends.

As you browse the website, if you see anything that doesn’t seem quite right, please let me know. As I said above, I’ve stretched my technical skills almost to the breaking point. If you find a typo, or a broken link, or formatting that looks strange with your browser, I’d like to know about it, so hopefully, I can figure out how to fix it.

Ideally, I’ll have this whole website enhancement project behind me by the middle of the week. Then I’ll change my focus to something I’m very excited about – the two public retreats we’re offering this month:  “Woman According to Jesus” on Saturday, June 18, and “The Spirituality of Parenting” on Monday evening, June 20. Check last week’s blog for details. Both retreats will be led by Joan Gunderman - a spiritual director, retreat leader, and Lutheran pastor from Minnesota. There are still a few openings in each retreat. Call 608-212-6197 to register or for more information.

Whispering Winds is offering two public retreats in June. Woman according to Jesus is from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 18, 2011. The Spirituality of Parenting is an evening retreat, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, June 20, 2011. Both retreats will be led by the Rev. Joan Gunderman. Joan is a Lutheran pastor, retreat leader, and spiritual director. She has served as pastor in congregations (and one campus) in Ohio, Illinois, and Minnesota, and was an Assistant to the Bishop in Ohio.

In the Woman according to Jesus retreat, we will explore how Jesus interacted with women in the Bible. Western culture, and the Christian church in particular, has limited the roles and the authority deemed appropriate for women. Is that consistent with how Jesus treated women? Through presentation, discussion, and reflection we will explore what Jesus really thought about women, and what relevance that may have for us today. Call 608-212-6197 or email MarianKorth@Charter.net to register for this retreat. Fee: $50, includes lunch, payable by cash or check when you arrive for the retreat.

In The Spirituality of Parenting evening retreat, we will talk about why parenting our children (and grandparenting our grandchildren) is one of the greatest spiritual challenges we deal with in life. Is there more to nurture in a child’s life than good minds, good grades, and a promising career? Why is it as important to nurture their spiritual health as it is their physical health? And, how do we do that? We’ll have a great conversation exploring this topic, and learn of resources and simple ways to weave together daily life and faith with our children. Call 608-212-6197 or email MarianKorth@Charter.net to register for this retreat. Fee: $10, includes dessert and coffee, payable by cash or check when you arrive for the retreat.

SPRING FLOWERS

Spring is my favorite time of year for enjoying flowers at Whispering Winds. On Saturday I took a walk around the grounds with my camera. Unfortunately, I couldn’t capture the fragrance of the rugosa roses in full bloom, although my camera did record the bright pink color. There was a three-way competition for the best display of white blossoms - the snowball bush with dozens of bright white “snowballs,” the graceful branches of bridal wreath looking almost like a huge fountain, and the fluffy white tufts running along the branches of the pagoda dogwood trees. Next to the house, the pale lavender irises were a delightful contrast to the deep purple Siberian irises. The earliest of the golden daylilies popped up above the hostas on the east side of the house. Just beyond the hosta bed the curving row of light pink, white, and deep red peonies is beginning to open up. I’ll try to upload some of these pictures to the Whispering Winds website and Facebook page today or tomorrow.

See how the lilies of the field grow… If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? [Matthew 6:28-30 NIV] I love the imagery of these verses. Whenever I see roses, irises, daylilies, or any other beautiful blooms, I think about all the beauty God has created, and then I think about what Jesus says next in this passage – your heavenly Father knows what you need… and all these things will be given to you… Therefore do not worry about tomorrow… [Matthew 6:32-34 NIV]

Thank God for spring flowers – extravagant reminders of God’s love.

I have one goal that I try to accomplish every year before Memorial Day - I try to decorate my parents' grave. Mim and I usually start the process by going to the garage to see how faded last year's decorations are, to see if they can serve another year. I always hope they're too far gone so I get to start fresh. Mim pushes for recycling as much as possible.

The process of picking out new decorations is what's so significant for me. Depending on how poor or wealthy we feel, Mim and I usually go to Farm & Fleet, or Hobby Lobby, or the Bruce Company to pick out silk flowers to make a new arrangement of my mom's favorite flowers. Sometimes it's tulips and lilacs, or apple blossoms and irises, or pink miniature roses. We may add a hummingbird or a butterfly.

I really enjoy walking up and down the aisles of silk flowers, trying to see them through my mom's eyes, to pick out the ones she would choose to grace her grave for the next summer - or two. It brings back memories of helping my mom cut a few tulips and lilac branches from the farm and arranging them in a coffee can to place on my grandparents' grave for Memorial Day. We needed to be sure to get the flowers there before the honor guard came to the cemetery to fire their salute.

One of my mom's traits that I inherited is a real enthusiasm for discovering and trying out new things - whether it's a new kind of cereal in the grocery store, or any new gadget that just might, in some way, enrich our life.

This year, we got a couple new gadgets for my parents' grave - a Moonrays solar-powered white LED cross on a post, and a bright red metal cardinal spinner that hangs from a shepherd's hook. I'm sure my mom loves them. Which is good, because I have a feeling they will be placed on the grave again next year.

As far as my mom's favorite flowers, they can be found on other graves nearby where friends and relatives are resting.

SUMMERTIME... And the Livin' is Easy...

Looking for some peace and quiet for yourself?
Looking for a little getaway for your family?
Looking for a relaxing place to go with some friends for a few days?

Whispering Winds is a "Bed and Breakfast on a Mission" this summer, with every intention of meeting all of the needs listed above. Our mission is to provide "a place to be still and be renewed by the Spirit... a place to relax in the peace and quiet of the country." We welcome individuals, couples, families, and small groups of friends. But, to protect everyone's expectations for peace and quiet, we don't welcome them all at the same time. For example, when someone schedules a personal retreat, we are careful not to schedule a family reunion or girlfriend getaway for the same time, although we may schedule other people who want a quiet retreat for the same time.

For the summer, June 1 through August 31, 2011, we're offering a "Friends and Family Summertime Special" - two rooms for the price of one. Guests are invited to come to Whispering Winds for a peaceful, relaxing summer getaway. They are encouraged to bring along a friend or family members. Normal rates apply to the first room. The second room is free. There is a two-night minimum stay for this special rate.

If you are "looking for some peace and quiet for yourself," you may want to invite a friend who is also looking for some quiet time. You will each have your own room, and you'll only have to pay for one of the rooms.

If you are "looking for a little getaway for your family or with friends," you can reserve two rooms and pay for one room, three rooms and pay for one-and-a-half rooms, or all four rooms and pay for two rooms. Children over the age of 12 are welcome.

In all cases, you and your friends or family will be able to use all the shared areas of the house and grounds, including the living room, sun room, prayer room, dining room, gazebo, and three acres of lawn and gardens. Also, just down the road is Cam-Rock County Park with hundreds of acres of meadows and woodlands along Koshkonong Creek. This "Friends and Family Summertime Special" includes continental breakfast. You are welcome to use the small refrigerator, microwave, toaster, and coffeemaker in the dining room to store and prepare food for other meals. Or, you can enjoy the restaurants of Cambridge and nearby communities.

Click the "Friends & Family" button on the left column for more details about the "Friends and Family Summertime Special."

Whispering Winds - a bed and breakfast on a mission - to help you, your friends, and your family relax and enjoy some peace and quiet this summer.

February 1, 1999 was my first day of freedom from a corporate job. That was 12 years, 3 months, and 15 days ago, not that I’m counting.

Throughout the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s when I was employed in the corporate world, it seemed that I spent most of my time in meetings. The purpose of most of those meetings was to share information with each other about what was happening with everyone’s assignments, to solve problems, to make joint decisions, and to try to plan for the future. What frustrated me most about those meetings was that they were often a waste of time. There were so many interruptions and other distractions that nothing worthwhile was accomplished.

Of the thousands of corporate meetings I participated in, the one that I remember most clearly is the one that our leadership team held sitting around a picnic table at Governor Nelson State Park. We wanted to be in a peaceful setting, away from phones, and away from a conference room where someone could easily interrupt us.

Sometimes, it is really important to get together with co-workers, committee members, friends, or extended family members to share information (or ideas or feelings), to solve problems, to make joint decisions, to plan for the future, or simply to enjoy being together as a group.

Being available for such meetings is another part of the ministry of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven. Whether those meetings include two participants or a dozen or more, the farmhouse has one or more rooms – or sitting areas outside – that could provide just the right atmosphere for your time together. If your meeting is an hour or two, or a day or two, we will work with you to try to accommodate your needs.

Some private gatherings we have hosted include:

· Business negotiations for small businesses needing neutral space

· Half-day meetings for church staff

· Full-day retreats for church councils

· Overnight retreats for church women’s groups

· Weekend retreats for writers’ groups

· Open houses in memory of a recently deceased loved one

· Family gatherings

Summertime is a particularly nice time to gather at Whispering Winds. My mom used to talk about her childhood days when people would gather at the farm on Sunday afternoons to play softball. My grandma served home-made root beer. The activities may have changed, but the welcome is still here.

Do you ever wake up in the morning thinking, “I wish I had some place I could go to just be quiet and think. A place where I could take time to sort out everything going on in my life. Maybe pray. Maybe read. Maybe write down some of my thoughts and observations. A place where I could just have a few hours to myself.”

You’re not alone. Sometimes I feel that way. My partner, Mim, feels that way. I wouldn’t be surprised if our dog, Abbey, feels that way, too.

When I was a fresh-out-of-college English teacher living in Connecticut, I’d drive to East Matunuck State Beach in Rhode Island to find some quiet space. I’d walk all the way out to the tip of the breakwater. Very few people walked out that far. I’d sit down, lean my back against a boulder, listen to the sounds of the ocean, feel the cool, salty mist, and think about everything from teacher problems to what I was going to do with the rest of my life. The vastness of the ocean prompted me to think about God and wonder what sorts of things God was thinking about.

When I lived in Chicago, I often went to the lakefront to find a place just to be quiet and think. It wasn’t exactly quiet, and I wasn’t really alone, but I was away from all the distractions clamoring for my attention at home. On weekends, I’d sometimes drive to my parents’ farm in Wisconsin for a quiet place. My mom understood that I needed peace and quiet, and she gave me all the space I wanted. On nice days I’d wander down the road to the woods – by myself, or with Mim, or with my mom. I have very peaceful memories of those walks.

Today, part of our vision for Whispering Winds Retreat Haven is to fill that need for a quiet space. A place where anyone can come “to be still and be renewed by the Spirit of God.” People are welcome to come for a few hours or a few days. Details are on our website (www.WhisperingWindsRetreatHaven.com/personalretreats.html).

I’m sure my mom’s spirit is delighted to see that the family farm still is being used as a place for peaceful quiet time and spiritual refreshment.

I’m on retreat at Christmas Mountain in Wisconsin Dells as I’m writing this. I brought fifteen books along with me. I’ve opened four of them. One is a hymnal that’s sitting on my Yamaha keyboard. The other three books are about hospitality. The title of this post is a statement by Brother Jeremiah, an Egyptian monk. He was quoted by Christine D. Pohl in her book, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition.

Now that I’m in my 60’s I find myself occasionally looking back over my life and looking for patterns, or common themes. Hospitality is one of them. In the 38 years that my partner, Mim, and I have lived together, we have welcomed thousands of people into our home, most of them as overnight guests.

When we lived in Chicago, we frequently had friends, or friends of friends, staying with us while they were in the city on business or vacation. When we moved to Wisconsin in 1992, our first long-term guest was Mim’s mother who lived with us for five years after suffering a stroke. In 1998, we turned our Wisconsin farmhouse into Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast. Over the next five years we had a couple thousand B&B guests. In 2002, we changed our home into Country Comforts Assisted Living. We invited people who were frail, or had dementia, or were on hospice to live with us and be cared for primarily by Mim, a nurse. In 2009, we re-opened our farmhouse as a retreat center, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven. Now individuals as well as churches and other groups are finding their way into our home.

About a year ago I started writing a book about our experiences in practicing hospitality. That’s why I opened the three books on hospitality this week. I want to see what other writers have to say on the subject.

I really liked the Pohl book, Making Room… She is Professor of Church in Society at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky. She took a historical approach to the role of hospitality in society from Old Testament times, New Testament and Early Church times, the Middle Ages, Early Modern, and today. The progression of the role of “hospitality” is a fascinating story. She begins each chapter with a quotation. An early chapter begins with, “In a commercial country, a busy country, time becomes precious, and … hospitality is not so much valued.” That statement was made in the 18^th century by Samuel Johnson. Rather timely today, as well. The last chapter begins with “On this occasion of the concourse of so many strangers, and needy and suffering people, let your hospitality and your good works abound,” written by Augustine in the 5^th century. Also timely.

The book I’ve started to write, tentatively titled, Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest, will be far less scholarly, but rather just the story of our experiences. I heartily concur with one of the conclusions of Pohl’s book, “Hospitality is wonderful because it is filled with unexpected blessings, because it is fun, and because of the opportunities it provides to become friends with so many different kinds of people.” Here’s the first page of my work in progress.

Welcome one another, … just as Christ has welcomed you... [Romans 15:7 – NRSV)

I should have known when I first met Mim and she said I could move in that weekend, that my life was about to change. What kind of person invites someone to come and live with them after a mere ten minutes of talking? True, our first meeting was at a Bible Study, and I was a friend of the pastor’s wife, but that’s still pretty risky hospitality. She said I could live with her until I found an apartment of my own. That was almost 40 years ago. We’re still living together.

I had just accepted a job as an editorial researcher for The World Book Encyclopedia. I was staying with my friend, June, and her husband, Arden, for a few days while looking for a place to live. Arden was a seminary student and assistant pastor of a small Chicago church. To be polite, I went along with them to a Bible Study that evening. I didn’t say a word during the Bible Study. That’s the way introverts cope with uncomfortable social situations.

After the Bible Study, Mim came over to talk with June and Arden, and to find out who I was. When she learned that I had a new job and would be moving to the city, she offered to let me stay with her in her apartment until I found a place of my own. Her only stipulation was that we should go to the Buffalo Ice Cream Parlor for cheeseburgers and hot fudge sundaes to discuss the ground rules before I actually moved in. We did that the next evening. Basically, the rules were no wild parties, no men overnight, and I had to take the bottom bunk in her one-bedroom apartment. I drove home to Wisconsin the next day, Saturday, packed my things, and moved into Mim’s apartment on Sunday.

That’s how it all began. I had grown up in a conservative Christian family on a farm in Wisconsin. I knew all about the importance of treating people with kindness, being like Jesus in that respect. One of the first Bible verses I had memorized as a child was “Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32. Back in the 50’s it was customary to memorize the King James Version, which, of course, was the real Bible.)

Ephesians 4:32 is still my favorite Bible verse. I think about that verse whenever I think about being nice to someone who has been really nasty. But treating friends (or even people I don’t like) with kindness, and inviting complete strangers to live with me in my own home were two different things. I wasn’t sure God really expected me to do that. Mim was about to teach me otherwise.

Today I’m getting ready to go away for a few days of personal retreat time. As I was packing up a few books to take along, I picked up one of my favorites, Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young. In this book of daily devotions, each daily page is presented as though God is speaking directly to me. Scripture references are cited to provide a basis for the words God “says” on these pages. The result is a sense that God is speaking to me personally, day by day. It’s quite powerful.  

The reading for April 1 was based on I Thessalonians 5:17 and Proverbs 3:6.

I am calling you to a life of constant communion with Me. Basic training includes learning to live above your circumstances, even while interacting on that cluttered plane of life. You yearn for a simplified lifestyle, so that your communication with Me can be uninterrupted. But I challenge you to relinquish the fantasy of an uncluttered world. Accept each day just as it comes, and find Me in the midst of it all.

Talk with Me about every aspect of your day, including your feelings. Remember that your ultimate goal is not to control or fix everything around you; it is to keep communing with Me. A successful day is one in which you have stayed in touch with Me, even if many things remain undone at the end of the day. Do not let your to-do list (written or mental) become an idol directing your life. Instead, ask My Spirit to guide you moment by moment. He will keep you close to Me.
[JESUS CALLING by Sarah Young, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2004, p. 96.]

The hardest part of writing today’s blog was deciding which day’s reading from this book to share. Every single daily reading has offered a new insight. Around Christmas last year, I ordered a dozen of these books so that there can be a book in every guest room at Whispering Winds, plus a few extras to give as gifts.

Sarah Young has written a few other books in a similar style. For more information about any of her books, or to order them, you can check out http://www.christianbookbag.com/?keyword=sarah+young&searchby=author&page=shop/browse  or http://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Young/e/B001K8ABK0 or just google her name or book titles for other options. Or best yet, go to your local bookstore and spend some time browsing.

Now, back to packing…

     Learning how to pray is something people have always struggled with. Even Jesus’ disciples wondered about it. In Matthew, Jesus told everyone how NOT to pray. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others… But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father… And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. [Matthew 6:5-8] Jesus then went on to teach us how we should pray by giving us what is now known as “The Lord’s Prayer,” or the “Our Father.”

     Last Saturday, Ken Lund led a retreat at Whispering Winds, focused on The Lord’s Prayer. Basically he led us through the prayer phrase by phrase, giving us new insights into the implications of each phrase. He also shared a variety of paraphrases of the prayer with us. One that was most helpful to me was by Dr. Stan Nussbaum.

Our Father in heaven,

Please take over and make earth like heaven
Where everyone respects your name,
Experiences your liberating control,
And does what you want.

Please give us all enough to eat today
And don’t make us pay for wronging you
Like we don’t make people pay for wronging us.

Don’t put us into situations that test our limits
But set us free from evil inside and out.

Yes, come Lord Jesus.
You are the Messiah, the center of God’s master plan for the world and the universe,
You have the power,
You get the glory now and forever.

Let it happen!

     Literally billions of people have learned to follow Jesus’ example of praying The Lord’s Prayer. An interesting exercise for this Holy Week is to go to www.youtube.com and search for “The Lord’s Prayer.”  You will find loads of ways people have learned to pray following the instructions Jesus’ provided in Matthew. Here are a couple links I stumbled upon.

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-sermon-on-the-mount-and-the-lords-prayer/7b68b55947fb853031557b68b55947fb85303155-873805317129?q=The%20Lord's%20Prayer

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-lords-prayer-by-2-year-old/52cad38f453897dc85ec52cad38f453897dc85ec-891933491444?q=The%20Lord's%20Prayer

Why in the world should I make time for a personal retreat? God and I have much more important things to do. I’m too busy. God understands.

  I never thought about going on a personal spiritual retreat until I was in my 30’s. I didn’t actually do it until I was in my 50’s. The first time I thought about going on a retreat was when I attended LaSalle Street Church in Chicago. Pastor Bill Leslie occasionally talked about his own personal retreats. He would go off by himself for a few days, just to have some uninterrupted time to read, pray, and think. This idea was appealing to me, but I didn’t know anyone else who did it. Maybe it was only important for pastors to go on retreat, not just everyday Christians like me.  Maybe sometime I would go on retreat, sometime when I wasn’t so busy.

  The first time I finally went on a retreat I didn’t really think about it as a retreat. My partner Mim and I had just started a new business venture, providing assisted living in our home. That meant that we cared for two frail, elderly women 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with very little assistance. The only way we could think about vacations from this 24/7 business of ours was to go on separate vacations. We decided to go to nearby timeshare resorts. I got to go first. I packed up my portable keyboard, a briefcase full of music to play and another briefcase full of books to read, and I drove to Christmas Mountain Village in Wisconsin Dells, about an hour’s drive away. I bought some groceries and settled into my own little condo for 7 days.

  That was it—my first retreat. I read a couple books on spirituality and played on the keyboard to my heart’s content. I had just purchased “Sing the Faith,” the Methodist Hymnal supplement, and I played through it from beginning to end. I went for long walks on the resort grounds. I thought about the books I’d read, the songs I’d played, and the changes happening in our lives with our new business ventures. (I also had a business consulting practice and was a church organist.) Other than nightly phone calls to Mim, it was just God and me for conversation. What a week!

  Christmas Mountain became a regular retreat home for me over the next several years. I learned that a 4-day retreat every month or two was just about right for me. During one of these retreats Mim called to say that my sister had died unexpectedly. I had just had lunch with her the day before I went to Christmas Mountain. Apparently, she’d had a heart attack. I spent most of that retreat time playing my sister’s favorite hymns and praise songs, thinking about our lives together, and imagining her in heaven with her husband, her youngest son, and our parents. I’m very thankful for that quiet time. God knew exactly what I needed.

  Not everyone goes on retreat the same way. Some people maintain complete silence during their retreat. Some find reading a distraction from thinking about God. God speaks to each of us in different ways. For me, going on a retreat includes reading, playing music, taking walks, thinking, and praying. That’s how I can have an extended conversation with God. Nothing is more spiritually, emotionally, and physically refreshing.

  The mission of Whispering Winds is to be “a place to be still and be renewed by the Spirit of God.” During Lent, we have offered a special “Solitary Journey” rate for personal retreats to encourage individuals to come for some quiet time alone with God. Because so many people have chosen to take advantage of this opportunity, we are extending the “Solitary Journey” rate through May 31, 2011. Click on the “Solitary Journey” button of our website for the details.

  What did I learn when I finally got around to taking my first personal retreat? That it’s really a special time for an extended conversation with just God and me.

Whispering Winds is a different kind of retreat center. Basically we’re a bed and breakfast on a mission. Our mission is to provide “A place to be still and be renewed by the Spirit of God.” We want to be a spot where someone can come to get away from their everyday distractions, and spend some quiet time alone. A place to think. A place to pray. A place to ”be on retreat” for an hour or two, or a day or two, or longer.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, sometimes it’s helpful to have a companion during this quiet, reflective time. Sometimes it’s helpful to be part of a small group of people on the shared journey of seeking to understand the important things in life. A handful of spiritual directors come to Whispering Winds to meet with individuals one-on-one, to be their spiritual companions. Some of these spiritual directors also lead small groups on day-long retreats to provide guidance on particular themes. We extend an invitation to the public to come to Whispering Winds for these small group retreats, our "Public Retreats." 

Our next public retreat is “When all else fails, follow the directions: The Lord’s Prayer as a Guide to Meditation.” The retreat will be from 9:00 am. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, 2011. There are still a few openings for this retreat. Call me at 608-212-6197 for details. Ken Lund, the retreat leader, describes the retreat this way:

When Jesus’ disciples asked him how they should pray, the gospels tell us that Jesus responded with a specific example. Now known as “The Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father,” it has become a staple of liturgies throughout the world. But it can also provide an excellent path for individual reflection and meditation. The day will include an in-depth look at various versions of the prayer, discussion, and personal time for exploration. The opportunity for a short, complimentary, individual spiritual direction session will be available (optional).

Ken has led several retreats at Whispering Winds. His style is to present an overview of the theme of the day, read excerpts from his favorite sources on the topic, share some anecdotes, engage the group in sharing their thoughts and experiences, and intersperse those activities with three or four half-hour personal reflection times where everyone goes to their own quiet spot at Whispering Winds to reflect on what has been presented. During these quiet times, he invites anyone who wants to have a short spiritual direction session, to meet with him in the Prayer Room.

Some comments from the evaluation forms of Ken’s previous retreats were:

Ken inspired us to delve deeper. I am leaving with the beginnings of a new image of God. I enjoyed the discussion and sharing of others.

The retreat was, for me, a powerful experience. My mind and my heart were opened to new ideas and new ways of searching for God. The quiet contemplation and periods of silence after our talks were especially important.

The varied information Ken had to present was extremely helpful. I also felt I learned so much from the other retreat participants.

Whispering Winds Retreat Haven –
A bed and breakfast on a mission.  
A place to be still and be renewed by the Spirit of God.
A place for Personal Retreats, Public Group Retreats, and more. 

We invite you to comment about your retreat experiences –
at Whispering Winds as well as other places.