In the spring of 2004, I led a women’s quiet day retreat, Planting Spiritual Seeds. The first day of spring, and we started with a focus on the mustard seed. The night before I gathered my materials together for a table with numerous articles that might be helpful to the participants. I first selected a lovely small needlepoint with a colorful butterfly stitched above the words, “Be still and know that I am God.”

In a box were packed:

• An icon
  
• a wreath of wild mustang grape vines
  
• a tablecloth
  
• a rock from Holy Island, England
  
• a candle
  
• a small wooden cross made from sticks from the hills of Assisi, Italy

I prepared multicolored folders. I prepared one paper with four words across the top: Bad Seeds - Good Seeds. While looking for other possibilities, I discovered a large envelope with postcards bought in foreign lands, the messages never written. I placed a different one in each folder.

During the course of the day, I asked the retreatants to describe their picture and how it related to them. I was surprised by the appropriateness of each card. The stories seemed to fit the person holding the postcard. My unplanned sharing of how God entered my life in unsuspecting ways during my travels spoke to the women gathered together.

This morning I thought about that day and a note from one of the women thanking me for the retreat. She mentioned the best for her was the sharing of my “adventures.”

I remembered the many articles written during the past years involving my travels, both at home and abroad, and how God opened my heart, mind and soul in unfamiliar locations. At present I am compiling these stories for my next book, Miracles Along The Way.

Whether I am facilitating a quiet day, retreat or attending one, I always return with additional “spiritual supplies” for the journey. .


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