Abiding in Christ Retreat Update March 2018

Finding Flights

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]I will be using http://www.skyscanner.com to find and/or book my flight. Skyscanner will give you flight information from multiple airlines. Even if you don’t book using skyscanner, you can use it to find the best flight times.  You can then find those particular flight times on the major airlines websites if you prefer. From Sacramento, the quickest flights are about 7 hours long (going) and around $600.00.  It’s best to purchase flights on Tuesdays or Wednesdays and sometimes Saturdays.  You can also sign up for Sky Scanner Alerts and they will send you a notification anytime the flight changes by $25. Also, I want to encourage you to get travel insurance. Emergencies do sometimes happen.

Airport:  We will be flying into Liberia Airport. Once you have scheduled your flight, please log into Trip Tribe and enter your flight information. Trip Tribe will use this information to provide FREE transportation to and from the retreat center.

Departure:  Our departure day will be really light as people will be leaving at different times. Plan to have breakfast if you are still here and we’ll probably have one last time together.  I like to use this time for testimonials, evaluations, a closing meditation, and our goodbyes. Check out for the resort will be around 11 a.m. If your flight leaves later, you can just hang out until it’s time for you to go to the airport.

My Flight: Once I purchase my flight I will post it here for those who are leaving from Sacramento and who may want to fly together. I will be purchasing my ticket around the first of October. :-)[/text_block]

Checking Into the Resort

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]According to Trip Tribe, we can check in as early as 11 a.m. on March 4, 2018.  Typically, check in is around 3 p.m. but they will accommodate us whenever we arrive. I would recommend arriving anytime before 4 p.m. to give you a chance to get to the resort and settle in before dinner. If you arrive earlier than 11 a.m. you may just have to hang out around the resort until your room is ready. If you requested a particular roommate, you will room with that person.  Accommodations for rooms can be up to 3 people unless you are a married couple. As of right now, I don’t have any more information than that.

On March 4, our first group meeting will probably begin with dinner to allow everyone to arrive before we get started. Afterwards we will have an evening meet and greet session, overview of the retreat, and maybe even a guided meditation. I am sure that you will see me and others prior to this time (if I’m there yet). Please don’t hesitate to reach out to others.  At my last two retreats, everyone bonded and enjoyed each other’s company. Let’s really try to create a Tribe atmosphere. There is nothing worse than coming alone on a retreat and then feeling isolated and that does happen, even at Christian Retreats!

Food:  If you do arrive early, there will be food to purchase. Trip Tribe even recommends having your driver stop at the convenience store to pick up any snacks or treats to hold you over.[/text_block]

What to Bring

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida” left_padding=”25″]I will be adding to this list periodically so check back every now and then.

• Bible
• Writing Pens
• Journal
• 1 Inch Binder
• Headphones (if bringing a mobile phone, little ones are fine)
• Yoga or workout clothes
• Comfortable clothing

 

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Additional Activities

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]I will be planning some optional group paid activities during the retreat during our free time. I would like to organize these as much as possible beforehand.  Once I have more information, I will list some of our scheduled group activities, days, and prices. (You will pay for them at the retreat) This will give you a chance to decide what interests you and plan in advance.  In addition, I will find out more about spa services and prices as well (massages, etc.)[/text_block]

Pre Trip Forms and Survey

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]When available, please complete the pre-trip forms and bring them with you. I will collect them on our first day.

• Emergency /Personal Information (Food allergies, medical conditions, etc.)
• Yoga Waiver
• Picture/Video Waiver (not mandatory)

When available, please take a few moments to take my PRE TRIP SURVEY.  People retreat for many different reasons. This survey will give me an idea of how I can serve you best. (You will see link when available.)[/text_block]

Protecting Ourselves from Unforeseeable Events

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]With all the hurricanes and extreme weather situations that have been occurring all over the globe, it seems, I reached out to Trip Tribe to find out their policies and recommendations should the unforeseeable happen.  Below is the response I received from them. To highlight what they said, 1) March is not hurricane season in Costa Rica, 2) Where we are going is not prone to hurricanes, 3) Get travel insurance!  There is a link to a company that they recommend. You can see the letter I received below:

“Naturally, a lot about weather is unpredictable, but Costa Rica is usually too far south and west to be impacted by hurricanes. El Sabanero is also on the Pacific side, which is not where the (already small) risk is from the Atlantic/Caribbean side. Additionally, hurricane season runs from June through November, so your March trip has a lot of reasons why it is very unlikely to be impacted and why El Sabanero is unlikely to be harmed. We did have some travelers on recent Costa Rica trips disrupted because they had connecting flights through Florida or Houston, but again this is very unlikely to be a problem in March (at least due to hurricane).

All that said, you are right to ask everyone to get trip insurance. We require guests to get it for our trips and everyone can see the details in the middle of your trip page, including a link to a travel insurance provider that we recommend. If something causes a traveler to be unable to attend in March, we do everything we can to help them out, but we are not able to recover their payments because we have already paid the providers in Costa Rica and that money is non-refundable to us. We will help them with documentation they need to make a travel insurance claim.

The weather in Costa Rica in March is typically great (remembering that it is unpredictable on any given week and these are just trends). The rainiest is right now, in September and October, and it rains on most afternoons during May through August. November through April is the high tourism season because the weather is typically preferable.” – Trip Tribe Administration

I hope this puts some of your fears to rest, if you had any. Please email me with any additional questions and concerns.

Blessings, Rhonda

 

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[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to give you some updated information regarding selecting flights for the retreat that I received from Trip Tribe.

Per Trip Tribe: As far as flights goes, we’d advise arriving at the Liberia International Airport (LIR) between 11am and 3pm on March 4, 2018 and departing between 12pm and 3pm on March 10, 2018. The Liberia airport is not a terribly busy place. We’d suggest you be there at least 90 minutes prior to your flight departure time.

Breakfast will be provided in the morning and lunch for those with later flights. Meal times at El Sabanero are set and are as follows:
Breakfast: 7:30am – 9:30am
Lunch: 1:30 – 2:30pm
Dinner: 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Me: On March 10, for those who still remain, we will probably have one short closing session. For those flying out of Sacramento, I have not yet booked my flight but it looks like I will be flying United Airlines arriving at 3:25 p.m. on the 4th and leaving at 12:30 p.m. on the 10th. I will let you know once I have booked.

Once you book your flight, please add it to Trip Tribe as they will use this information to pick you up and take you to the airport.

I hope you are all doing well. I will also post this information to the Costa Rica Updates Page.

Blessings, Rhonda Jones[/text_block]

[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]Hi Christian Meditators,

I thought it would be a good time for us to start praying for the retreat and our time together. Our collective prayers will ensure that everything runs smoothly and has a positive outcome. Below are some specific suggestions to cover in prayer.

• Health and safety of our families while we are gone
• Protection from sickness, injury, accidents, loss, or harm
• Nice weather
• A clear sense of direction and purpose
• Unity and Christ’s love
• No crisis at home while we are gone
• A deeper sense of God and hearing his voice
• God’s divine guidance, presence, and protection
• A safe arrival and departure
• Casting out all spirits of fear, envy, strife, selfishness, and stress

Let me know if I missed anything and add it to the comments below.

Blessings, Rhonda[/text_block]

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[text_block style=”style_1.png” align=”left” font_size=”18″ font_font=”Lucida”]Why a Christian Meditation Retreat?

There are many reasons we desire to retreat. Some of the most common include:

1. Restore and relax
2. Disconnect, re-access, and re-route
3. Hear from God
4. Goal setting
5. Detox from the world
6. Inner Healing

A Getaway with God Retreat is a little different than the church retreats you’ve probably gone to in the past. Although these can be great for building relationships, learning new information, and having fun, most of the time your schedule is too packed to really “get away” alone to just rest and be in God’s presence.

On the retreat, I hope you do bond, have fun, and learn a lot, but more than that, I hope you can reconnect with God from the place where he resides- within you. Because of this, we will spend some extended times just “being” without a whole lot of doing. At my Getaway with God Retreats, instead of depleting your energy with a week full of jammed packed activity, I want you to be restored and increase your energy, to open your spiritual eyes just a bit more, to wait on God and in His presence, and to re-access so that you can re-route paths or behaviors not taking you where you really want to go.

It is typically during times of silent retreat and limited distractions that we can see or discover the subtle messages of God often drowned out by the noise, both internally and externally. This stillness and quietness allows us to shed and release that toxic buildup getting in the way of us fulfilling our higher callings and desires. We use this time to dig up, plant, and fertilize our truest and deepest desire and create a new and improved garden of our hopes and dreams.

A GAWGR is a time of purging and rooting out the overgrowth of weeds that we’ve neglected to notice or that we just pushed under the rug, because we didn’t have time or the energy to address them at the time.

So as you prepare your heart to get-away with God, answer the following questions in your journal or notebook. Write as much as you need to get clarity for yourself. Revisit it as often as you like. It’s important to get clear on what you want and need. Having the answers to these questions, will help you to stay on track of your goals:

Journaling Questions:

1. What do you want God to do for you?

• During the retreat?
• In your life in general?

 

2. What is it you are retreating from and retreating too?
3. What is your current meditation practice or quiet time with God?
4. What do you hope to gain from this retreat?
5. How connected do you feel to God right now? How would you define your current relationship? (dis-connected, apathetic, non-existent, thriving, budding, etc.)
6. What seems to get in the way of you developing a deeper relationship with Christ?
7. Are you ready to establish new ways of pursuing God? Why or why not?
8. In what areas do you feel stuck, struggle with, or seem to be recycling the same old behavior patterns (that aren’t leading to your goals.)
9. What is your current mental and emotional state? (peaceful, content, worried, stressed, etc.)

Before the end of 2017, I will be sending out a confidential and anonymous survey/questionnaire for you to complete to address your needs and expectations. Until then, begin to ponder on the questions above and seek God for clarity and direction for you.

You will be bringing these responses with you, so hold onto them. We will use some of this information to share and get to know one another better.

Blessings Rhonda

 

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