The Power of Retreats

Have you considered retreating as a lifestyle?

Mar 06, 2024

Hi everyone! Welcome to a new week. I hope the past week has been good for you and thank you for feedback on the Building You As You Build Series! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it and I hope it continues to support you on your journey. If you have any questions regarding the series and would like to speak one to one, send me a message using the button below.

🎥 Now let’s get into this week’s Unpacking with Lessons in Seasons:

📚 Rhieme Recommends: Appointment with Destiny by Jumoke Adenowo: This hands done has to be one of my favourite books! This is about my fourth read of it and there’s so much to unpack! She covers so many topics on it, from being comfortable in who you’ve been created to be, to navigating relationships, purpose and so much more. I’m currently running a mini-giveaway on it, keep reading to know how to enter!

Before we dive into it, here’s a word of encouragement for you —

Though you may feel you are the least likely person to attain the heights that you know you are destined to, remember destiny has nothing to do with your circumstance. To be destined for something means from the beginning of time, God has always had a plan and a purpose for you that took into account the present circumstances you find yourself in. Where you feel like others have looked down on you, remember you are not limited to the vision of a person. A human being cannot determine how far you can go, you are not limited to the confines of man. So I charge you —remember a way has always been made for you. You will experience the heights, depths and lives you believe you’ve been created to reach all in due time.

Now let’s get into today’s newsletter! 🌸

Last year shortly after my exams, I went on my first solo trip/retreat. It was a two in one trip for me and the clarity, peace and understanding I gained was unmatched. I decided to go on it as I was at a cross-road in life and really wanted to gain perspective on my next phase of life and what my focus areas should be. It’s been about 9 months since I went on this retreat, and the clarity I gained is still helping me now. If there’s one thing I held unto from the retreat, it’s the world can truly wait. My friend said this a lot prior to when I decided to go on the retreat and it was when I went I had a better understanding of what she meant. Often times we are too afraid to slow down and zone out from the world. I get it, it’s much easier to constantly occupy yourself, but sometimes we don’t realise we are hiding behind busyness to face who we really are. An important question to ask ourselves is — outside of the noise, who are you really?

💌

5 lessons I learnt from my retreat:

Lesson 1 📌

You need to step away from the crowd: Sometimes we don’t realise that we are surrounded by too much noise. From social media, to over-socialising and generally being too busy to pause and be still. When was the last time you were able to plug out from the noise and zone out? There is so much peace and clarity that comes with intentionally pulling away from the noise and facing yourself. Your thoughts, where you find yourself in life etc. We all need to develop away from the crowd and have a voice rather than be a repeated echo. Often times we blend in because we have not taken time to do the deep work, and have an understanding of ourselves outside of spaces and people. This scripture below is always such an important reminder to unplug:

Luke 5:15-16 “ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

How can we know what makes us distinct when we don’t retreat and evaluate ourselves? There is so much more to you that you are yet to experience, but are you willing to leave the pack to go on a narrow path? There may be few on this journey as it takes a lot of courage to not merely be an echo, but the voice you choose to release is more powerful than being part of a chime.

Lesson 2 📌

At cross-roads return to your source: at the vista of new experiences, it can be easy to make our decisions based on what well-meaning people in our lives think is best for us. But only God knows the entirety of our stories and the best decision we need to make at a given point. To hear more on this, listen to this podcast episode. Retreats are the perfect time to ask questions and be expectant for an answer. For example, what should I focus on in this new phase of my life? This is a question that may sound so simple, but it’s so crucial. In a time where it can be easy to glorify activity over alignment, choose alignment with God, there is no reward for busyness. Focus on being fruitful by zoning in on what you should be producing in a given season. But remember, we’re not fruitful in our own strength, we need to continually rely on God and move at the pace that’s been set before us. Be encouraged by this, you will bear fruit in due time as you plant.

Here are some questions worth asking if you currently find yourself at a cross-road:

Questions for You 🫶🏾

What phase of life am I in and what is required of me in this season?
Are there any unaddressed fears from previous experiences that are affecting navigating this new terrain?

Lesson 3 📌

Don’t be afraid to spend time with yourself: Trying out new experiences and intentionally giving ourselves space to hold our thoughts is a way of doing this. I enjoyed going punting during my trip! I’ve included a short video from it. It was such an amazing experience and I would definitely go again. But my point is, take steps to intentionally get to understand yourself more and pour into yourself. Sometimes for me, this looks like reading, journalling, travelling, spending time with loved ones, listening to sermons, podcasts etc. But it’s worth asking these questions — what drains you? What energises you? And what steps can you take to ensure you’re living from a place of overflow? Remember this — rather than pouring into yourself to pour out, aim to live a life of overflow.

This is an excerpt from ‘Appointment with Destiny’ by Jumoke Adenowo and it sums up my point really! Pour into yourself holistically, it is necessary.
Lesson 4 📌
Rest: Rest — we all need to rest it’s a necessity. But I mean rest that goes beyond sleeping, spa days etc, rest in who you have been created to be as a person. Often times we may not realise that we are actually not comfortable in who we have been created to be as people. Unknowingly we could find ourselves constantly feeling the need to occupy ourselves with something else because deep down, there is restlesness with who we really are as people. The people we are when are walls are down, the insecurities we cover by constantly running on the hamster wheel of our non-ending to do lists and so on. But today I want to encourage you to truly rest. Rest from competing with others, duplication, fighting the life God has for you because it doesn’t look like others and of course, rest from performance. Choose alignment with God instead. A great place to read more on being at peace with your life and how you’ve been created is Appointment with Destiny by Jumoke Adenowo. I’d like to gift it to someone here, comment here what your key takeaway has been so far to enter!
Leave a comment
An excerpt from the book ‘Appointment with Destiny’ by Jumoke Adenowo.
Choosing to take a step back last year reminded me that our journeys are not so much about how fast but more so are we in alignment with God? There is no point running quickly on a path that was not designed for you. Why don’t we slow down and truly gain an understanding of the path that has been created for us? As my friend would say, the world can wait, please take time out to refuel.
⚓️ This is a scripture I’ve been meditating on:
1 Thessalonians 4:11 ‘Make it your sole ambition to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands just as we instructed you before’

This text message from my friend has been on my phone for over a year now because it is such an imporant reminder allll time time! You have nothing to prove to anyone.

Lesson 5 📌

There is power in restraint & constraint: Not all parts of ourselves are meant to be shared with the world at once. I certainly believe we are to use our gifts and talents and serve those around us and shared more on this in my newsletter two weeks ago. However, there is also a place for development and incubation. What I mean by this is, we all need to go through refining. A process that is dedicated to us processing. Our skills and ideas need to refined and this is a process it can be easy to want to overlook and rush. But why though? Not all ideas are to be acted on immediately. An idea could have sat in your journal for five years and it doesn’t mean you’ve wasted your time by not sharing it. There is wisdom in knowing the right time to pursue certain visions. Please don’t allow the pace of other people’s lives rush you. Let’s take our time to develop, some building needs to take place underground where you are unseen. Remember we’re here for the long haul and that takes process.

So as we wrap up today’s newsletter I hope you are encouraged to not just go for a physical retreat but also live a life where retreats are part of your lifestyle. If you choose to shut away anytime soon here’s a mini resource list that could help you!

Mini Retreat Resource Guide 📥

Message: ‘Girl Get Up’ by Sarah Jakes Robert — This is for anyone who has been in a rut: it could be due to fear, your past, insecurities etc. This is a beautiful listen to get up again.

Book: ‘Appointment with Destiny’ by Jumoke Adenowo: I shared some excerpts of this book earlier and it’s honestly a must read! I’m running a mini giveaway of the book. If you’ll like to enter share a takeaway from today below!

Book: ‘In Pursuit of Purpose’ by Dr Myles Munroe: I read this book last year and it was honestly life-changing. If you’ve had questions on purpose lately this is for you.

This was me during my retreat and I was so at peace. I hope you’re encouraged to take some time away whatever way this looks like for you.

And on the topic of resting as a lifestyle, I have to say thank you to Maz, she’s the friend I’ve been referring to. She’s taught me so much on what it truly means to rest in the life God has for me and has a podcast dedicated to this. Love you Maz.♥️ Listen to her podcast here.

As always, I hope this met you where you are and you are able to find some time to slow down. I’d love to hear your thoughts share them below!