Kerith Retreats

January 8-15

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

What a special week Shonet and I had at Kerith Pines Retreat, a ministry of Focus on the Family. For seven days we were lead through teaching and private counselling sessions focused on couples in full time ministry. Some of the topics discussed were personality types (Myers Briggs stuff), depression and discouragement in ministry, marriage in ministry and boundaries. Outside of being hosted and pampered in a beautiful location we were given plenty of free time to rest, read and be refreshed. This verse, Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”, sums up much of the focus of the week and we are very grateful for the time and the opportunity to unhook from pastoral work and have others feed into our hearts. During the week I was also very encouraged through listening to the 2018 Basics Conference (online) being fed by speakers such as Christopher Ash, Tim Savage and Alistair Begg—talking about issues such as burnout, marriage in ministry and perseverance. Needless to say it was quite a special week, it was the longest we have been away from our kids (thanks Rob, Marni, Megan and Anika for watching our crew). I think the camaraderie experienced with the other couples at the retreat was a real highlight, some were pastoring while others were in para-church ministries but all of us were at a similar stage of life facing similar challenges. The medicine of laughter and shared struggles with these fine folks was a surprising delight for us. 

HUGE thanks to EMBC for making this week happen, such a blessing to be part of this church.