Pasture Experience: Spiritual Direction, Retreats and Poems & Prayers

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Pasture Experience: Spiritual Direction, Retreats and Poems & Prayers

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Pasture Experience, inspired by Psalm 23, offers a wide-open welcoming space for ALL to listen, rest, and receive soul nourishment through:
Spiritual Direction (virtually/in-person) + Retreats + Poetry.

08/16/2022

A Liturgy for the one whose son or daughter is off to College

Oh, sweet soul
I see you
With such hope for your child
While holding hands with sadness at sending them on their brave way

You are teaching them to fly
Yet, let’s also honor the grief that accompanies goodbye

Much pouring out – physically, financially, spiritually, emotionally – for one you love and believe in

As you enter this new season, be it an empty home or with other kids still in the nest
Please also give yourself permission to fly

Unburden
Cry and laugh
For, you, dear one,
Are worth the time you’ve given
To take flight
And begin something anew.

BJP

https://pastureexperience.com/2022/08/16/a-liturgy-for-the-one-whose-son-or-daughter-is-off-to-college/

05/18/2022

I saw them while on a walk. A patch of sunshiney delicate flowers clumped together. The "in" crowd. A picture of belonging. Off to the side sat a large w**d. Same shade but a bit eccentric and bigger in size.

Ever feel like that w**d?

Rejection, trauma and broken relationships want to keep you in a shaming pattern by pointing to the w**d as your identity. "You're weird and don't belong."

This is much of my story.

And yet, as I looked closer, I wondered, 'What if that w**d isn't alone, but away from the extra noises so that he/she can discover their true self? To see more? To listen? To breathe?’

Your trauma is actually your superpower.

Where you see w**ds, God sees you as set apart to bring transformation to the very places that desperately need healing.
✨✨✨

05/17/2022

Did you know that Pasture Experience was originally an idea for everyday writers to share their honest words in a level space, regardless of following or platform size?

I sat with this idea for a year and when we moved to Nashville, a friend invited me to speak at her whimsy space and a dozen women from all ages came and we sat and talked about life, faith, struggles - all with a glass of wine + nibbles, surrounded by beauty - and I came home and thought, THIS! This is what I want others to experience- an out of the box way to be with the God of Psalm 23 who says, "I am with you."

And so Pasture began with gatherings in an antique mall and then I shrunk it to seasonal holistic retreats in our home, and now it includes offering spiritual direction to women all over the world.

I believe the Pasture is for all. It's a level field for you to connect with yourself, with God, with other sojourners who are making their way home. A way to experience grace and space with the Shepherd, knowing it's your heart he cares most about.

When you think of the visual of a pasture, what part of Psalm 23 do you find yourself in today? Lacking nothing? Craving rest? Being led? In the dark valley? Sitting at the banquet table?

Where is the Shepherd inviting you and how can you bring your honest self, as you listen & pay attention to the ways He is with you, wherever you are?

"The Lord is my best friend and Shepherd. I always have more than enough..." Psalm 23, Passion Translation

05/13/2022

Our David Austen Rose garden is exploding with beauty and fragrance!

And here's the magic about these peony-like roses: they last only a few days once picked and arranged. They are literally a gift and invitation to be present. To enjoy today. To honor the sacredness of this right-here moment. To trust there will be more buds open tomorrow to pick and share with friends and neighbors.

I'm imagining myself handing you the biggest bunch, an offering of tangible presence.

What do you see today that you've never seen before?
How is God meeting you in simple ways?
What's making you come alive?
What's breaking your heart?
What IS?
Listen. Be still. And know that the One Who Designs David Austens made them for you!

05/11/2022

During magical spring days like this, offering spiritual direction from our home means inviting directees into our space.

And on days such as these, we move from the front Listening Room to the Back Porch under the Whimsy Wisteria Wall where birds chatter, blossoms fall on our shoulders, the fountain babbles and Father/Mama God, the Shepherd & the Spirit all scoot in cozy to join us on the couch. Sometimes Mercy joins.

This sacred space is nothing special; it's where dogs bark and lawn mowers mow in the yard behind us. It’s where dishes sit dirty in the sink, but those details are a backdrop to the conversation that lingers, listens, looks for and settles on
Life
Hope
New
Spring
God in all things.

May you experience your own "back porch" moments today and count them equally sacred.

05/07/2022

To all the mamas, aunties & grandmas,

You know how much you love, protect, listen, play, empower, attune and nurture your kiddos?

This is just a hint of how the trinity longs to love, protect, listen, play, empower, attune and nurture YOU. Will you allow yourself to receive His care?

May His face shine upon you and bring you peace, today. 💛

✨Life with pre-teen & teenage sons | Taco Tuesday Date

05/06/2022

✨Death & Hope, a poem✨

A friend's beloved dog passes
A drawer falls on your foot
Broken antique bowls
A burnt cake

How quickly we fight for a faith that reflects positivity
When we live mostly
In the wilderness
And mystery of the unknown

Loss of a pet
Physical pain
Shards of glass, not to be put back together
Well-meaning celebratory intentions

The resurrection is hope
Only because before
Preceded death

Death and hope
Bound in an eternally
Sacred
Flow

Held reverently
With receptive hands
Hope and death
Death and hope.

💗 Confetti Cake |

05/03/2022

A directee asked if it's normal to feel angry, lonely or scared when stepping out of the proverbial box and into the great Spirit-breathed unknown.

100%!

May I please honor your journey and validate that as you step closer toward connection with yourself and with God, most likely this will include stepping away from the belief that Christianity = positivity, answers, or a faith formula. As you do, the chasm with those who are comfortable with being comfortable undoubtedly widens. This naturally evokes or may add to your grief or loneliness, even as you long for a different way.

May this also spur you on toward something Spirit-breathed and new. The enemy wants us to continue looking back (desolation) at said box to spend energy trying to explain why we feel stirred toward God's mystery, or to be frustrated that the box no longer "works" or maybe he wants to confuse you with thoughts that tell you that you're crazy and to "please get back in the box." Those voices say less about you and more about what's comfortable for others. Both can exist. But don't let that detract from where God is stirring you.

Consolation invites you to believe that intimacy is at the heart of connection with God. This includes mystery and pioneering new paths. This may include honoring your anger and allowing it to serve as a bridge from The Box to the Hope for More. This is where it's helpful to stand back and get a birds eye view so that when desolation tempts with shame or shoulds or shouts at you to "sit down and behave", you can look toward where God's still small voice is whispering and trust that His invitation into the wilderness is just that: an invitation from Him specifically to you. No journey looks alike. But those who are walking the wilderness and into mystery can confidently say that honoring the process is where healing and hope arise.

I join you in honoring your questions, your grief, your hope AND I also ask, what is God inviting you into? Keep focusing on that consolation and trust that you are not alone.

04/30/2022

There’s a beautiful part of Matthew 5 where it talks about Jesus walking along the shore (I imagine Sullivans Island in South Carolina) and seeing two brothers (were they arguing? telling jokes?) and inviting them to follow him.

This part: "Jesus called out to them and said, "Come and follow me, and I will transform you into men who catch people for God." (Matthew 5:19).

Do you see it? Jesus calls out. He invites. He promises. And it's Jesus- not we- who does the transforming BEFORE we catch people for God.

Cue an exhale of relief. Because it's easy to believe that we have to invite, woo, win, people-please, you name it, to catch people for God, but this truth speaks the hope of transformation first.

When Jesus calls, we get to choose how we respond, and as we hang out with him (preferably along a shore or open space, please), intimacy with him is what results in transformation. From here? The right people will come.

This is so freeing because you don't have to catch the people but rather hold on to being with Jesus. From there, His Spirit will draw and stir and bring others into your life, your home, your workspace.

Knowing this, how can you focus on being transformed by the One who Calls and Invites before trying to "catch people for God"? After all, we can only offer, what we know to be true for ourselves.

Be WITH Jesus.
Allow Him to do the transformation in you.
Trust the right people will come your way in due time.

🌺 Also, can you handles these peonies? Planted bulbs 4 years ago and they popped up this week!

04/27/2022

A Lesson from Mourning Doves | Introducing Baby 🐦

A few weeks ago I shared about the mourning doves who built a nest on our front door hanging basket. Brave souls. All the opening and closing. Inside and outside chatter and porch commotion.

Turns out these precious mourning doves mate for life and take turns sitting on their eggs and newborns. Every morning we watch the dad come and take his place from the morning until late afternoon. Then, he high-fives Mama Dove as she takes the afternoon - night shift. Just sitting. Patiently waiting. What do they think about all that time?

Just like that, life appears in the first baby dove.

Life. It's all around. Beckoning to be noticed and celebrated. Where are you seeing life today? Look for that and you will no doubt see what has followed a season of waiting, of stillness, of hope.

04/26/2022

I keep listening to my heart and she’s led me to grad school in Nashville!

After years of offering spiritual direction and retreats, I began noticing patterns and themes during sessions and stories - specifically circling around grief, attachment styles, family of origin and the hope for healing - that impacts how we interact with ourselves, with God & with others. Aware that I’d hit my ceiling, I noticed a voracious hunger to learn more about mental/emotional congruence and the desire to integrate this with spiritual direction.

Aaaaaaaand so I’m back (cue all the feels) at grad school to become a licensed marriage & family therapist so that I may continue being a space-maker for others to experience healing - whether that comes through direction, a retreat, or therapy session.

I’m excited to share what I’m learning with you along the way and believe - more than EVER - in creating hospitable spaces that bridge the beauty between contemplation, connection & creativity so that I can better serve you!

What about you? What is your heart asking you to listen to? What would it look like to follow your desire?

04/20/2022

"I just need space / time / room to _____________
(wrestle, believe, forgive, grieve, be angry, doubt, understand, listen, feel what I'm feeling, not have answers... with a safe person and with God."

What would you say?

This is why Pasture Experience was created - to offer intentional space for individuals and groups to actually experience and integrate what you are *supposed to know* about God / life and have room to honestly explore, process, and name without shame, so that you can know in your bones what is true.

Without space, we are only regurgitating well-behaved answers or head knowledge. You need time to honor your process so that what you come to understand in your heart aligns with what you've heard a fafillion times. You need room to catch up and connect with your story.

You need permission to say, "I don't know what I think about church" or "I'm mad at God" or "I know the Bible says He loves me, but man, I don't feel loved by Him." Room. There's necessary room for all of your honest thoughts, wounds and desires.

So often we try to rush our emotional, spiritual and physical process. We want to arrive before we've allowed the hard work of lamenting, grieving or fumbling our way along. How do we live integrated so that we know that we know that we know that God is with us, however this present moment is? Only space can bring us to this sacred knowing.

We need space-makers who listen, invite hope, point to Jesus, illuminate truth and create room for you to journey at your individual pace without urgency or short-changing the process.

What do you need space for now to heal, to hope, to live with congruence? There's nothing but grace and space for you here.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, you are with me.” Psalm 23:4

✨Dandelion Parade | Meadow Walk with dogs🌿

Address

Spring Hill, TN
37174

Website

http://pastureexperience.com/

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