A Weekend of Washing the Soul

I feel washed.

This past weekend I had the great pleasure of attending my third Canadian Above Rubies retreat.  This year was pretty spectacular.  Spending Friday evening through Sunday afternoon with an incredibly unique group of women.  Hearing the heartbreaking stories of infant loss, life's challenges and exchanging inspiration was truly a cleansing experience.  I love Nancy Campbel's writing - and hearing and meeting her three daughters is always a pleasure.  We enjoyed Serene and Pearl last year, and this year Evangeline came along and blasted out encouragement.  She began each of her sharing times by blowing a small shofar (ram's horn), calling us up to the adventure and Land of Motherhood. Yes, I know what some of you are thinking - sounds cheesy - It is definitely one of those "you had to be there".

These are a few shots of my vision poster I created a number of years ago.  It still inspires me to look at it today. The writing in the center is the very same quote I posted here.

This quote sums up the vision of Above Rubies.

 

  One of the most refreshing part of the weekend is all the different women we meet.  As eccentric and alternative as I feel I'm perceived amongst my community at home at times, I feel quite the contrary amongst the interesting blend of company at these retreats.  I'm just one of the bunch, who perhaps chooses to birth at home, makes choices contrary to main stream society, and in fact really not as extreme as some of the other beautiful women I meet.

One of the most heart warming scenes (besides the breathtaking Canadian Shield spread), is the amount if nursing babies and toddlers.  Every where you look at an AR retreat, some one is breast feeding.  It is not often you find yourself in the company of 150 or so women with at least a quarter of them accompanied by a nursing baby or toddler!

I hope for you this week, that you find the moments, the community that inspires and refreshes you!