Spiritual Direction
Listening to our Life with God
Spiritual Direction $75/hourly session
"The faithfulness of God is at the core of spiritual direction. When we seek spiritual direction, we are utterly dependent on God and God's love reaching for us. Willingness to place our hope in God is also a necessary element. We long to experience God's presence in this shattered, exquisite world and need help to believe in our own ability to recognize God's voice. We need encouragement to trust God to be God, to trust the Holy Spirit in another person, and to trust God for a particular spiritual direction relationship. It is helpful to remember that all the initiative is not ours. In fact, any movement on our part toward God is an indicator that God has been seeking us." - Jeannette A. Bakke, Holy Invitations
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God loves you and me and in knowing God we find our life. A life lived with God is what we are created for. As we know God, we know ourselves. In that interactive relationship, in knowing God in our daily experiences, we learn with God. We learn we can depend on his guidance, count on his presence and help, and are transformed in our living. "To be and not to seem" - living authentically from the inside out, we embrace and find joy in the particular life we have been given as we see God in the midst of our days. We are eternal spiritual beings and have eternity written on our hearts. God is concerned about every thing in your life. You have a life that has been formed spiritually and your image of God is the most important thing about you. Your decisions and choices ultimately are based upon what you believe about God and your actions are based upon that reality. Spiritual direction is all about reality - about discerning and naming what is true. "It is what it is" my morning coffee mug reminds me. Those words are not a flippant phrase, but a reminder to me to name what is true in my life as I experience it with God. There are many blessings, deep joy and deep sorrow, many God-sized questions and mysteries. I am honest with God and talk about what is going on. We converse and I count on the reality of his presence. Spiritual direction provides a space for listening to life, to longings and desires, to question and to mystery, and to seeking ways to find freedom and joy as we listen to the truth of our lives. We can be with God the way we are and see that it's okay to come in the truth of what is. We live and move and have our being in God and we have the assurance, always, whether we're aware or not, of God's presence. And God's love.
What do you love?
Where do you find your deepest joy?
What brings you life?
What are you afraid of?
What questions do you have about God?
So many good things to ponder, so many good experiences with God we find in our seeking and listening. We learn to be aware, to lean in to the good life we were created for, and to look for God everywhere. My seeking and longing and listening led me to know God's great loving heart and to long for others to know it too - and to see that spiritual direction is the thing that I was created to do.
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Retreat Facilitating
1 hour / $150
"If it is true that we are for one another's salvation, then it is God's intent that we rub against one another, confront one another with the truth of our lives, and break one another open to deeper levels of awareness that can take us beyond ourselves and impart clearness of sight. This undistorted vision allows us to see things and ourselves as they are, in the unwavering light of Christ who is our truth. "
- Frank T. Griswold, Going Home, An Invitation to Jubilee
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Cultivating a sacred space to share and grow as a group is a special vocation that Susan has perfected over years of practice. Each retreat is centered around a theme crafted specifically for the enrichment of the individuality present at the gathering. This theme is explored biblically and discussed within the safety of the group setting. Time tested activities and contemplative practices enrich the group experience. Throughout the retreat there are times allocated for individual reflection and mediation. These activities have yielded dynamic revelation and insight to many participants.
Speaking Engagements
1 hour / $150
"Measure your life by loss instead of gain, ​
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured fourth
For love's strength standeth
In love's sacrifice,
and whoever sufferth most, has most to give."
- Hudson Taylor
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Each speaking engagement given by Susan is cultivating uniquely and specifically to each audience and their needs. These engagements are beautiful times of insight and teaching that seem to yield a shared sense of unity and insight to it's participants. Susan's ability to bring forth meaningful story and insight to a large group without losing a sense of intimacy and wisdom is truly special.