I haven’t had much time to post something on this blog for a while. I was at the Northumbria Community for several days. There was no wifi there. Then upon arriving to Paris I have been feeling a bit under the weather. Nothing too serious. It’s just a cold. But it does suck to be sick in a foreign country when there is so much to do and see. 

For several days I was at the Northumbria Community which has their main house in northern England. The community practices the monastic tradition and spiritual disciplines. They have a book titled “Celtic Daily Prayer,” which has daily readings, offices and prayers. I attended a contemplative awareness retreat there where the goal was to just be with God and reflect on who He is and who I am. This is perfect for my sabbatical in which I am hoping to think deeply on both of those. 

EditWhile I was at the Northumbria Community I realized how fast paced my life and my heart is. We did the daily offices and complained which I am used to since we do that as a part of InterVarsity. But the difference here was instead of rushing through the words and moving on to the next things, we read things very slowly with a lot of pauses to reflect on what was just said. What previously took 5ish minutes now took 30min. Not only did this make me initially impatient, this also made me realize that I had been missing what the words and prayers were actually saying. 

This retreat gave me the opportunity to slow down my pace of life even more and just see where God was around me. I took walks around the beautiful English countryside, rested, and experienced God in community. What a great place to visit. I hope to one day go back again. 

One thing that God is continuing to remind me on this trip is to not forgot to experience and be aware of the wonder of God. There was an exercise on this at the retreat. I was also reminded of a lyrics from a song that Matt Redman played in London. 

“May I never lose the wonder, oh, the wonder of Your mercy. May I sing Your hallelujah. Hallelujah, Amen.”

My hope and prayer is that I would continue experience His wonder in nature, places, and people on this trip. 



If you would like to learn more about the Northumbria Community check out their website at northumbriacommunity.org