I’m excited. We ordered nearly one mile of linear foot of tongue and groove Aspen to be installed up at our retreat, Potter’s Inn at Aspen Ridge. Our contractor was notified of a special and quick sale on the Aspen due to a ‘going out of business’ sale by a wood distributor about 1 hour from our retreat. Such a significant savings could not be overlooked or ignored. What a blessing!

One mile of Aspen wood–tongue and groove covering the entire 5,000 sq ft. ceiling and some of the interior walls. We wanted the wood for the warmth, ambiance, decor and Colorado feel of the big, reg barn. And of course, it’s Aspen…. our native tree and even in the name of our retreat. How fitting.

Even more delighting is that a mission team from Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin is coming the first week of May to install the entire one mile of Aspen wood.

We now have 5,280 linear feet of Aspen cut, sized and delivered and it’s already sitting in the unfinished section of the barn.

Step by Step. One inch at a time, makes a mile. That’s how the journey for us goes in building a fabulous retreat for YOU–our dear, dear friends and partners who anchor with us to help make this happen.

It’s amazing that some of our donors have not ever seen our retreat but graciously give out of their hearts because they know the dire need for a safe place for people to come who are tired, worn out and burned out on religion.

This is the place. It is very, very close. We can “see” the finish line–finally.

Blessings, Steve

We are up at our retreat, Potter’s Inn at Aspen Ridge. It’s snowing. Cold outside but we’ve lit the fire and it’s cozy. A great time to get away…yet we’re kind of messed up today because we went to see a house that’s for sale that maybe we should not have gone to see. Cause now our mind is busy with “what if…” So, we’re going to settle down, walk the Prayer Trail and relax. It’s been a very intense beginning to the New Year. Lots of travel and lots of talking to groups about very wonderful things.

I’m realizing that not all good opportunities are the right opportunities for me to say, “Yes” to.  Wanting to become more careful; slower to decide what’s right to accept and what we can let go of.

The exciting thing right now is that several folks around the country have contacted us; wanting more information but seriously considering coming to help Potter’s Inn in some way. I’m glad about that. We need help.

Let it snow!

Stevw

I am glad that our ministry is launching a brand new initiative called, “Vocation Care.”  It’s interesting to note that none of the books on the soul; none of the books on spiritual disciplines include a person’s work life. Yet, we’re told that we spend more time at work and doing work than doing anything else in our lives. Work matters!  So do the good and bad choices we make about our work lives.

One of the mistakes we make in our work life is looking at our work as yet another silo that has to be managed. We think wrongly that we have a silo for our spouse, another one for our children–yet one more for our work. This is an old and wrong way of looking at our lives. The soul does not have silos. Everything is connected. If we are not doing well with our work–then we are not doing well in our souls.  When work is affected, then everything in us is affected. For most people, work is more of the jugular vein that when nicked, causes massive problems and sometimes makes  person feel like they are dead–even though they are, in fact alive.

Vocation Care seeks to honor the complexity of our souls by allowing us to journey well into our souls to explore our hidden passions, unfulfilled longings and yearnings in life. We want to “do” something that matters. We don’t want to just endure to the end.

Vocation care helps people navigate the whitewater of work, purpose, fulfillment, desire and significance. I hope you’ll join us on the journey. Consider coming to one of the two already scheduled one day retreats on Vocation Care–one in Charlotte on March 4 and in Colorado Springs on April 30. Begin the journey with us reassess the trajectory of your own life.  Details are on our webpage, www.pottersinn.com

Consider subscribing to David Sachsenmaier’s brand new blog: http://pottersinnvocationcare.wordpress.com/

I’ve just finished reading, Donald Miller’s new book, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.”  Let  me just say, go get the book and start the journey! It’s a wonderful read and very stirring and thought provoking. I found this one paragraph that I can not get away from and wanted to share it with you and see what it stirs up.

“Growing up in church, we were taught that Jesus was the answer to all our problems. We were taught that  there was a circle-shape hole in our heart and that we had tried to fill it with the square pegs of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; but only the circle peg of Jesus could fill our hold. I became a Christian based, in part, on this promise, but the hole never really went away. To be sure, I like Jesus and I still follow him, but the idea that Jesus will make everything better is a lie. It’s basically biblical theology translated into the language of infomercials. The truth is, the apostles never really promised Jesus is going to make everything better here on earth. Can you imagine an infomercial with Paul testifying to the amazing product of Jesus, saying that  he once had power and authority, and since he tried Jesus he’s been moved from prison to prison, beaten, and routinely bitten by snakes? I don’t think many people would be buying that product. Peter couldn’t do any better. He was crucified upside down by some reports. Stephen was stoned outside the city gates. John, supposedly, was boiled in oil. IT’s hard to imagine how a religion steeped in so much pain and sacrifice turned into a promise for earthly euphoria. I think Jesus can make things better, but I don’t think he is going to make things perfect. Not here. Not now.” (page 203-204).

One of the most challenging paragraphs I’ve read in a long, long time. Don’t you think that in the light of Haiti; in light of a serial killer on the loose in southern Virginia; in light of so many of my friends who are struggling without work; in light of the fact that there is still no cure for cancer; in light of the fact that the tectonic plates of the entire world seemed to be shifting in our lifetime and everything is changing so quickly–that we might just need to re-think some things about life and Jesus?  I hope so. I’d love your thoughts on this!!!

Click on the image of the book and it will take you to our Amazon Recommended Bookstore where you can buy it!

I just got home from a retreat which I led with 19 pastors. My goal was to talk with them about such things as the rhythm of life, the benefit of being still; having some solitude time and trying to be quiet–to practice some silence. I’m thinking it sounded a bit like Japanese–something very foreign.  In our busy world; our noisey hearts and our adrenalin addicted lifestyles, the message of Jesus is so often regarded as strange and irrelevant. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The way of Jesus–the way he lived his life resulted in the life of Jesus being really lived–one in which he was really alive.

Have we exchanged the “abundant life” which Jesus promised for a life of perpetual busyness and always being “on?”

Everything must be re-thought, when Jesus shows up!