Dear Friends, 

I hope you are each doing well!  I also hope you enjoyed getting to meet our new team of writers.  As I read each woman’s story, I found myself, yet again, standing in awe of God’s work in our lives.  I continue to remind myself that God continues to work in each of our lives, even in this time of continuous change.  

I am writing this letter just minutes after finding out Louisiana remains in phase II for another couple of weeks.  The uncertainty of life and what the fall may hold looms out there.  There are so many unknowns and yet, I continue to see a small beam of light continuing to illuminate the next steps before me.  There is this holy tension in me of both hope and fear. In prayer, Jesus keeps reminding me to not forget the path we walked together these past months that brought clarity even in uncertain times.  Every time I felt afraid or lost or unclear of my direction, Jesus appeared in my imaginative prayer reminding me I am not alone.  

Jesus truly is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).  An important part of our spiritual journeys is getting to know the One who calls us, Jesus.  In the second week of the Spiritual Exercises the grace we seek is “for interior knowledge of the Lord so we can know, love and follow him more closely”.  

Our next blog series that our team of Into the Deep community of writers will explore is focused on this grace.  We are calling this series “To Know, to Love, and to Follow”.  Over the month of August, the team of writers will explore what it means to get to know Jesus, to love Jesus, and to follow Jesus more closely.  Let’s take a brief look at each of these to get us started.  

To Know Jesus: 

Getting to really know Jesus happens in our interior lives in prayer.  It is in our inner chapels as we pray with Scripture especially that we come to know Jesus personally as a friend.  We begin to understand who he is in both his humanity and divinity.  We learn the way he moves, he speaks, and he acts.  Knowing him in this way helps us come to really know him on a heart level and not just know about Jesus.  

Spending daily time in our inner chapels getting to know Jesus during this time of uncertainty can help anchor us into the hope that we are not alone.  Jesus is with us and is here ready to show us the way forward.   

To Love Jesus: 

As we spend time in our inner chapels getting to know Jesus, we fall more in love with Jesus.  He becomes someone we know intimately and care for deeply.  Our hearts begin to connect with what matters to him the way our hearts would for anyone we love.  

To Follow Jesus: 

As we get to know Jesus and love him more, the desire to follow Jesus even more closely wells up in us at the same time.  We desire for our actions and words to mirror and align with Jesus’s actions and words.    Jesus continues to call us deeper and deeper into relationship with him.  Jesus also calls us to use our gifts and talents to share in his work of building the Kingdom.  

Upcoming Opportunities to Know, to Love and to Follow Jesus:  

In the next few weeks, I want to offer you three virtual retreats that can help you get to know, to  love, and to follow Jesus.  My hope is these retreats offer you a chance to pause and to simply be with Jesus.  

• Morning of Reflection: Living Anchored in Shifting Winds   

August 15th, 10am-1pm Central 

A live virtual retreat with Becky Eldredge

We have this anchor of hope, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19).    

Even though life changes, there is a constant. Throughout the centuries, God is a steady, unshakable, and enduring presence.  The presence of God in our life offers us the gift of the Promises of God that provide a firm foundation to build our life upon and anchor our hope.   

This retreat will illuminate the promises God made to us.  It will share practical tools and prayer practices for going to our inner chapels that will help us anchor our lives in God’s firm foundation and increase our hope even with steady shifting winds.    

Register here! 

• A Weekend Retreat: Seeking Grace

August 28-30, 2020 

A live virtual retreat with Becky Eldredge & Stephanie Clouatre Davis

Rest in the graces of God from wherever you are! Join us for a live virtual retreat in daily life with Becky Eldredge & Stephanie Clouatre Davis, August 28-30 We’ve adapted our annual weekend preached retreat to have live online talks via Zoom, guided prayers, community prayer gatherings, times of encouraged silence and reflection, and optional online spiritual direction – all designed to be done in your own space as an individual retreat with Jesus. With the title of, Seeking Grace, and based on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, come as you are to experience the truly amazing grace of God that we find in love, mercy, friendship, companionship, compassion, and joy.

Register here! 

• A Six-Week Retreat in Daily Life: Overwhelmed No More

September 7th- October 16th 

A self-paced virtual retreat with Becky Eldredge (optional community gatherings on Friday at 12pm central)

Facing the realities of COVID-19 this Spring, we offered our self-paced online retreat, Overwhelmed No More, as a community journey with newly added elements of connection and discussion. It was truly glorious to walk together. In one retreatant’s words, “I loved the online format and being able to “fit” it into my life.  This retreat has helped me tremendously to hear God’s voice and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I prayed for clarity and direction and received both! Thanks be to God.”

Another retreatant said, “The retreat was just the exact thing that I needed at this exact moment. I really liked the practical prayer tools given in the materials and videos. Most of all, having the ability to connect in a deep, spiritual way with people from all over the country and the world from all different stages in life was tremendous.” 

We are once again opening this online retreat as a community journey, so that we together can discover and live God’s vision for our lives – a vision where we are overwhelmed no more! We will begin on September 7th, and finish on October 16th.

This opportunity includes weekly themes that help us walk in God’s truth. For example, we will discuss the joy that comes from knowing you are not alone, ways to pray in daily life, and the steps to boldly walk in peace. Drawing on the discernment and wisdom of St. Ignatius, we’ll take stock of what is keeping us busy and learn how to discern and prioritize our greater yes.

Register here!

I hope you will join me for one of these upcoming retreats to spend some time with a community of people seeking to get to know, to love, and to follow Jesus.  

Know of my continued prayers for you in this time of uncertainty!  May we all continue to lean on and trust Jesus, who is our way, our truth, and our life.  

Peace,

Becky

Photo by Aachal on unsplash.