A solo retreat

One thing you may notice about this post...there are photos. However, my camera is still out of commission so I had to resort to pulling out my 35mm which still had half a roll of film in it and pictures from who knows when. So, I got all the photos put onto a CD and I'm realizing once again why digital is definitely the way to go.

That being said, last week my Thursday class was canceled and the weather was gorgeous so I thought, why not take some time away? I hopped in the car I'm getting to borrow (which enables me to have opportunities like this! yeah!) and drove to Mississippi Palisades State Park...which is on the Mississippi River that is the border between Illinois and Iowa. I pitched my tent and spent a couple nights out in the "wilderness."




The campground was pretty empty and I found this little area where I couldn't see or really hear anyone and there was a little creek that was flowing through the trees.



(I tried to take a "cute camping photo" in my sleeping bag. But, the photo turned out a little bright.)

The time was so refreshing. I am so renewed when I get to spend time in nature and this time was no different. I hiked around on the hiking trails, read a bit, roasted marshmallows and bratwurst, watched the stars, prayed, journaled, read my Bible, and talked to God some more. It was refreshing. I didn't have any earth-shattering revelations but I came home with my spirit refreshed, my body energized, my hair smelling of campfire, and feeling that warm glow of spending time with God.

The only crazy thing was the first night I heard this growling near my tent at about 3am...I was hoping it was a racoon because I had seen one as I was pulling into my spot. The next night, there was something screaming and fighting in the trees near my tent. In my half-awakeness I was a afraid I was going to have to start rebuking demons...didn't help that video we watched in History of Christianity talking about the mystic Coptic monks in Egypt going into the wilderness and then encountering demons...hypothetically or real.



Some highlights of my time: I saw the most beautiful sunset as I was driving to the park, this spot in the picture above was a little isolated place off the path on the edge of the bluffs that I found to eat my lunch; I felt like a bird in its nest perched up here. I saw a shooting star the first night that trailed across half the sky, I feel asleep to the sounds of crickets, frogs and the creek, and I felt a lot more "centered" when I left.