Our sabbatical really began last month with a 12-day retreat at The Mountain Learning Center [http://www.pastor-care.com/] in June Lake, CA. The MLC is a program run by Dr. Russ and Kandy Veenker: "a mountain retreat for pastors and their spouses where a physically enjoyable, emotionally gratifying & spiritually invigorating experience revitalizes their relationship with God, self and others."
Their insight and encouragement helped us grow as individuals, as a couple, and as pastors committed to ministry in the local chuch. It was a rich time of renewal, and began the process of healing from many of the hurts and crises we've experienced in the past 10 years. One of the goals of the MLC program is to help pastors slow down, since so many of us are chronic over-workers. June Lake is just a few miles north of The Mammoth Lakes on Highway 395, and this entire area truly is "God's playground". When we were not meeting with Russ and Kandy, we were out enjoying the area. The eastern Sierra is a place of incredible beauty...a place where we could hike and bike deep into the woods and "hear" the silence...a place where we could kayak on a mostly deserted lake and listen to the wind in the aspens on shore...a place where we began to find some rest for our souls.
