8 Days, 10 Families, Domestic Church Formation, Blue Ridge Mountains...Unbelievable

We wasted a lot of time worrying about this one.  The drive up with all the kids, being in the mountains with all the kids, trying to truly take advantage of the incredibly beautiful Domestic Church Oasis retreat materials with all the kids, the long drive back with all the kids...  

God came through, though, the way He always does, with His providence and blessings that were unexpected and perfect.  The first was the ride up.  Our trip was incredibly smooth, and even the families who had incidents along the way were protected and provided for.  The Christmount Retreat Center staff and facilities were better than we could have asked for, and the food was wonderful (an often underestimated factor).  

We often ask and expect that if God is going to provide, He's going to do it by taking away discomfort and difficulty, and though He spared us much of this, we still had to walk uphill, corral kids everywhere, keep them fed and hydrated, sleep in close quarters, fight through distractions in prayer, and fight through obstacles in our relationships.  But, instead of removing us from the reality of these things, He gave us the grace of victory in our struggles, and over our time there, we got better at handling them.

In just a few days, walking uphill became surprisingly easier as our mountain legs kicked in.  We also quickly formed routines for meal times and traveling, and the kids continued to surprise us with their abiilty to rise to new challenges.  The group had plenty of energy to take advantage of both the amazing outdoor opportunities all around us as well as the simple, yet beautiful prayer and reflection opportunities provided by the materials.  And, though serious obstacles arose for many of us during couple dialogue and couple prayer, it was clearly because God wanted to overcome them, and He opened doors and forged pathways where many of us had settled for resentment and even despair.  What a gift! He proved to us what He was capable of doing if we were willing to truly enter into one another for an extended period of time, in His presence, and relying on His help.  

He helped us with our children, as well, in allowing us to see them grow so much, relationally, as well as in their physical abilities, and we were able to focus on our appreciation for the awesome gifts they are to us.  And, this didn't just apply to our own children; we were all able to fall in love with the childre of the other families, as well.  It was such a gift to get to know them more deeply, see the beauty that makes them unique, and to truly take joy in them.  They were more beautiful than the mountains!

Unlike most vacations we take, we didn't come home tired, despite the long drive.  It seems the graces and what we experienced up there allowed us to, as the Oasis retreat materials promised, "drink from the source of true refreshment," and we came back not just "re-energized" but truly stronger and more capable of loving our families and living our vocations than when we left!

We're excited to begin looking at what God may have in store for us next summer for our next family retreat, knowing that He will continue to surprise us and show us what He is truly capable of doing through our Marriage Sacrament, that we may experience true holiness in the midst of such a down to earth vocation!

Here are a few more pictures of the awesome experiences we enjoyed: