Note: In just five weeks, I’ll find myself next to the Frio River in the hill country of Texas when I attend The High Calling retreat at Laity Lodge. And oh how I need it as I’ve been going through a rather hard and hectic season. I need to be in this place with my people. A place where I can touch the sacred and and find refreshment. I’ve been reading back through some of my reflections of previous trips–remembering and reliving–and thought I’d share a couple reflections that originally appeared on The High Calling’s site two years ago. What follows is a little of my heart from 2011 when I was gifted my first visit.
It’s a two-hour drive from the airport in San Antonio to Laity Lodge. I watch the city clutter fall away as we head into the hill country, pass through open land dotted with live oaks and scrubby vegetation.
I’ve tucked my Horseshoe Lake poem in my pocket because I’ve registered for the poetry workshop. It’s not my first choice, but the fiction and nonfiction ones are full. I’ve been playing with poetry, but a workshop? That’s a little out of my comfort zone.
I didn’t want to say goodbye to my mom, and I worry about her. Is she eating? Are they answering her light promptly? What if I get “the call” while I’m gone. It’s been just a month since her fall and sudden diagnosis of a brain tumor. I’d decided this retreat could wait until next year.
God, however, had other plans, so I’d stayed up all night cleaning and packing, and when I left the house to catch the plane headed for Texas, it was still dark outside.
I shed pieces of my soul clutter with every mile between San Antonio and Laity Lodge, and as I start to relax, I realize just how exhausted I’ve been.
We turn left and down a steep hill toward the river. I’m wide awake now, and I sense a yawn deep inside, a cupping in my spirit. Because something sacred happens when rubber meets water, when the tires first splash into the liquid road. (Yes, you drive in the river.)
There’s no way across or around.
Only in and through.
This canyon, it’s drenched in beauty, and I let it seep through every tired pore. I rest under shady green, trail my fingers in the Frio, press my hand against cool limestone as water trickles, glistens in the sun. I walk the path in early morning and climb the bluff to look down on Blue Hole.
The water begins to carve a canyon in my heart, a hollow space, a hallowed space, a place for more of Him.
I’m so very hungry. I devour words. Words etched in stone throughout the grounds, quotes from poetry and prose and the Word. I’m asked to read my own words out loud, hear another read them, and then sit quiet while the group affirms them, feeds me with their words.
I feel so…literary. And loved.
I don’t need to worry about what I’ll eat or drink. In the dining hall, Tim and his staff prepare bread for body, and feasts for the famished. I join others around a long table, and we eat and laugh, and sometimes conversation turns deep.
This is a thin place, a place thick with His presence. He’s everywhere, and there’s no place to hide.
On the last morning, they’ve turned the chairs in the Great Hall to face the canyon wall, to face the river, to face His creation. I eat of His body broken, and I drink the cup. And I’m re-created. The water has left its mark. I’m filled with so much of Him I’m sure I’ll burst.
When I get home, my mom undergoes a brain biopsy, and the news is not good.
I ladle Laity Lodge love and hospitality in soups and ice cream, in sleepless nights and foot rubs. I serve the famous cookies to the hospice staff and other families.
I spill words through the keyboard, write free about last days and laughter and love and grief and peace.
Eight weeks to the day of my return, on the first Sunday in Advent, I’m at the bedside when my mother passes into His presence.
I think God knew I’d need to retreat in order to move in and through.
In order to say goodbye.
In the stillness,
Sandy
© 2001 – 2014 H. E. Butt Foundation. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Laity Lodge and TheHighCalling.org. Article by Sandra Heska King.
All photos by Sandra Heska King
Joining Jennifer and Holley
Sandra,
Soaking in the beauty and grace here…Thank you 🙂
You always leave a sweet fragrance when you pass through. 🙂
I remember, sweet friend. Wishing I could be there. Praying you are filled right up with His peace and presence.
Sharing that time with you was such a blessing. How I wish we could meet there again. You were such a good roommate. I miss you.
What a beautifully written, artfully photographed blogpost, Sandy. I’m touched deeply by the poignant way in which God began the comforting process even before He took your mother to heaven. He was so lavish in His love for you. I’m so glad that your people helped affirm you in your calling as well. You’re an extraordinary author.
Thank you for sharing beauty and richness at every turn.
Love
Lynn
How you bless me, dear Lynn. Thank you. The year I went, one of the editors couldn’t, so that space was open. THC held a writing contest and drawing for that spot… which I didn’t “win.” I took that as affirmation that it wasn’t my year. I still remember sitting outside with my parents when the gifted invitation came through my phone. I burst into tears right there. It was truly a God-moment.
I would love to meet you by the river. 🙂
Oh surely God was totally in this. I’m so happy for how he inspired you there, and for how you inspire all o f us now. I don’t swim, but I can sit and talk by the river and journal!
Love you dear one.
Lynn
Perfect. There are also hammocks. 😉
Sandy, is any author welcome at these retreats? The site looks like a preview of heaven.
The High Calling retreat is for members of that community. They used to hold a writer’s retreat, but I don’t think they’ve had one specifically pegged as that for a couple years. Some of the retreats are specific to a group/church, but many are open to anyone. If I lived in Texas, I’d be there several times a year. 🙂
It’s a wonderful place!
Thanks, Sandy. I’ll need to look into the more general ones. My baby SIL lives in SAT, so it would be a great excuse to see her too!
I just dropped by to let you know you’re loved. I know it’s been too long since we’ve talked. But you’re loved. *hugs* 🙂
Squeee! How sweet to see your face this morning, Sarah! Sending love and hugs right back to you!
This is one of the most touching, sensitive and wonderfully crafted posts you’ve ever written, Sandy. I’m so glad you chose to repost it here, and I’m sending prayers for another soul-filling visit to Laity Lodge.
Love and blessings!
Oh my. Thank you, dear Martha.
Such beauty in your words! I am sorry about your Mom, but isn’t it amazing how God knows what we need!
Sandy, I’ve seen the Hill Country many times and the lovely waters of that river (in laws and relatives all over the place there.) But I’ve never been able to make it to Laity for this Retreat.
You’ve continued to whet my appetite–may God richly rejuvenate you as you return.
This is so poignant to go back and read, Sandy. I’m so glad you were in that poetry workshop with me. Look what’s happened since. 🙂