Did I lose my way because I stopped writing, or did I stop writing because I lost my way?

Tree of Life by Elya Filler

I mull over these thoughts as I sit in my favorite spot at the Apple Farm Inn in San Luis Obispo. I’ve come to the Apple Farm Inn year-after-year for our grown-up girls get aways. And every morning, I slip out of the room of slumbering sisters (of all sorts). I pour a cup of coffee in the hotel lobby and tip toe upstairs to my favorite writing spot.

The plaid chair and side table offer inspiration. Today an angel statuesque reminds me of the value that going on a retreat offers. The angel holds the folds of her gown to form a perch for birds to sit and sip. I envision this statue in my garden with water filling the form.

I am a sparrow in His eyes, I muse, worth far more than birds of the wild.

I ponder the plaque perfectly placed :

Today, “Remember your roots” calls me back to the Tree of Life.

• Back to the writer I once was.
• Back to the artist I’ve become.
• Back to the precious gifts of life that the human soul can only taste when taking time to retreat.

Today I value small beginnings, present moments, and modest futures. I don’t aspire to be a great writer or artist or educator. I only savor to be His, the lover of my soul.

Today I listen to the lessons gleaned from retreat. I decide to become a writer again, to return to a tool that helps me to process my path so I can find my way…once again!

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* After writing this post, a noticed a ping back from July, 2011 that magically appeared in my inbox. The post refers to a writing retreat in Colorado I took with my friend Kay and our two children. Beneath the post was a link to another post about a retreat at the Apple Farm, where I just happened to be right as I discovered this. To make the mystery even more delectable, I had just titled my morning writing “Lessons from a Tree.”

So I reread Charity’s post from 2011, “There and Back Again: Collaboration,” and my post about our time together with our kids, “A Writing Retreat,” and felt my heart swell with gratefulness for Kay and the grace and wisdom she’s brought into my life!

I also felt grateful for the creative ways God reminds me of what is most important!