Brave New World

Hi, are you feeling a tad overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, fearful or finding yourself in tears lately?

Or maybe you feel traumatized & emotionally depleted in having to live so courageously through this pandemic & facing the new world.

Today we are traveling on the second stage of our journey, we had the first stage last week in Traveling Time . Today’s destination will build our emotional, spiritual & mental wellbeing.

Before we start let’s get our tea, coffee & treat organized. Mine is Lady Grey tea with a Lemon & White choc shortbread. Once again we need our comfy armchair for this is armchair traveling at its best!

Travel Seasons

There are seasons in our lives that leave us feeling depleted physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually…aren’t there! Leaving us longing for escape to rejuvenate & restore.

This CoVid 19 pandemic has been one such time where being brave has us all a little emotionally & mentally traumatized. And having state & international borders closed in varying degrees of travel restrictions for the foreseeable future we need a place of retreat.

So, we are now off to exotic destinations, places where we long to be, may plan for & continually look forward too. Often stepping in & out of these destinations through our travel dreams & imaginations.

The Retreat

A place of beauty, peace & serenity which gives us such joyful rest & a feeling of all is right with our world. Where we can feel the warm glow of the Son.

Our ideal retreat may be high in the mountains surrounded by forests & hiking trails that weave through breathtaking scenery to spectacular waterfalls.

Or it may be in the lowlands beside the sea coast where the landscape is constantly sculptured by sea winds & waves.

May be your retreat destination is experiencing exotic cultures or climbing rock faces. We all have our ideal destinations…Don’t we!

My ideal retreat is beside the sea where I can hear the sound of the waves, the squawks of the sea birds, watch the beauty of a sunrise & delight in the setting sun upon the water. To feel the grit of the sand under foot as I walk along the water’s edge.

I have been very blessed to have lived in such a place. The apartment my youngest daughter & I lived in two decades ago looked over the bay, where I could see the ebb & flow of the tides, hear the rhythm of the waves on the shore & watch the boats sail through the headlands to the horizon.

Enjoying God create each new day in breathtaking beauty & witness the going down of the sun across the water.

I could walk across the road to the beach before or after work each day, feeling the grittiness of the sand under my feet as I walked along the shoreline. With the sea breeze upon my face, watching dolphins feed & frolic in the kelp beds. A perfect retreat!

Come away with Me

You see the journey had been long & arduous to that point. So, I accepted God’s invitation of retreat…to rejuvenate…

“Arise my beloved, my fair one, Come away with me.”

Song of Solomon 2:10

Meeting with the Lord to walk, chat, sit on the beach, think & process, journal & heal was extremely important not only for my spiritual health but also my mental health.

We all need time to process our emotions & thoughts when a journey has been tough, being able to retreat to a place that brings us joy helps us to do this with our heavenly Father.

This is much more then a daily quiet time, this is a special time of rejuvenation, so that our emotional cup may overflow with His strength, peace & confidence…a renewal.

Even in this time of travel restrictions we can retreat to a quiet place with Him, we can journal, we can walk, we can talk, we can process our raw emotions & rest in Him.

We can get creative & set the scene with our favorite sounds/music playing in the background from our ideal destination. While drinking our favorite beverage from the region & cook a delicious treat that we would enjoy there.

Allowing Him to restore our emotional, mental & spiritual energy so we can continue to stand bravely with Him in this very different new world.

Will you accept His invitation of retreat & renewal my friend…

Until next time,

Jennifer

 

 

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

 

 

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© 2020 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog, All Rights Reserved. Photos on Pexels.com

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