When time stands still ....

May 18, 2014 by Penelope Swithinbank

What's it like to go on retreat?

"I've not been on a retreat before," she confided quietly as she arrived. "I'm not sure I'll survive three whole days! I'm not very good at being alone for hours on end......"

I led her past the sitting room, the library, motioned towards the chairs in the garden, pointed out the chapel and showed her to her room.

Gasps of delight. "I've not slept in a fourposter bed before, either!"

She's been glimpsed at meals; and she's told me a little of what's been going on. Long luxurious hours asleep; a reading through the whole of Philippians in one sitting; browsing in the library; praying in the chapel - not with words but through gazing at the old misshapen cross on the wall and thinking through the implications of Calvary; an amble across the fields; talking with others also on retreat here; joining in Compline each evening; appreciating a midday guided Lectio Divina; playing with the dog in the orchard...

"There's really not enough time to think and pray through everything that I need to bring to the Lord," she said at last. "I'll need to come again. But I've really known His Presence while I've been on retreat. It seems easier here than it does at home, somehow."

Yesterday - A typical Saturday at Mays Farm?

Glorious day! There are retreatants in deck chairs around the garden, dozing, reading, praying ... one is in the sitting room with a caffetiere of coffee and browsing through "Country Life" .... another is still asleep ... someone's playing the piano in the chapel ....
What a privilege to be creating the space and place for people to
#re:fresh re:new re:treat

FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T BEEN ON RETREAT BEFORE and are not sure where to start:

STOP'N'BE! JUNE 13-15 IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL RETREAT EVENT

part of the national retreat events for the weekend of June 13 - 15 2014

A time to step away from normal routines and try some space and sanctuary.

Ideal for those who have not experienced a retreat before.

A guided retreat but with plenty of down time.

And breakfast in bed.

Walks, rhythm of prayers in Chapel, good food, comfy beds ....

Book now for this retreat special!

arrive Friday June 13th late afternoon, depart Sunday June 15th after lunch.

48 hours of time to BE (with help on that if you need it!)

For details of this and other retreats, click here

What difference would it make if you slept for 24 hours?

May 11, 2014 by Penelope Swithinbank

She arrived for her two nights away, late for supper. She hadn't come far - was the traffic bad, I wondered. No, she had inadvertently fallen asleep during the afternoon. She had cleared her busy parish diary from lunch time, in order to come away on retreat, sat down after lunch before setting off to drive here - and had fallen asleep not realising how tired she felt. We fed her, she collected her bag from the car, went to her room - and didn't reappear until supper the next day.

I admit I was a little worried - people have sometimes, often, slept all morning, but never all day! So by mid-afternoon I went to her room to check. She was curled up, fast asleep, and I had only woken her. I apologised and beat a hasty retreat. (no pun intended) But she appeared at supper, profusely and incredibly grateful for the space and time and peace that had enabled her to sleep for nearly 24 hours.

Before she left, she wrote in the visitors' book. “I have, even in a brief couple of days, found a profound peace here, such a wonderful sense of God’s peace, which I needed to experience. Thank you for letting me sleep. This really is a wonderful place of God. I will be back!”

So The Vine is here for you - for you to sleep if that's what you need! And for many of us, exhausted from the endless pressures of daily life, what we need is the space and time to BE. To come and say, "I'm not doing very well .... I need time to rest, sleep, because I'm living and working out of tiredness.... I want to redefine my life by who I am in Christ not by what I am seen to be doing."

The Vine has the flexibility to enable you to have what you need, what will be most helpful. And sometimes that's rest, sleep. A massage, breakfast in bed, a good book or a magazine. There's a well stocked library, current issues of "Country Life," and no need to do or be anything or anyone.

But, at other times, you need opportunities for something else - and we have that too:

STOP'N'BE! JUNE 13-15 IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL RETREAT EVENT

part of the national retreat events for the weekend of June 13 - 15 2014 and Ideal for those who have not experienced a retreat before.

A time to step away from normal routines and try some space and sanctuary.

A guided retreat but with plenty of down time. And breakfast in bed if you would like. Walks, rhythm of prayers in Chapel, good food, comfy beds .... 48 hours of time to BE (with help on that if you need it!)

Friday, June 13, 2014 – Sunday, June 15, 2014

WRITERS' WEEKEND RETREATS

choice of dates:

JULY 11 - JULY 13

SEPTEMBER 19-21

A weekend of peace and quiet!

If you're a writer: time and space to get on with your opus magnum; chat with others over meals for further inspiration; encourage and support each other in getting down to the actual words on a page! And morning and evening hemming of the day with a guided devotional time to provide spiritual nourishment. If you just want space, time, peace ... this is the weekend for you! Breakfast in bed, time to relax, read, pray .... AND WRITE! Your hosts are each published writers. Maximum of 5 people. Private en-suite rooms. Full board.

Friday, July 11, 2014 – Sunday, July 13, 2014

NEW: for your diary

If you would like to come, book soon before these go online!

- Walking Holiday August 24 – 30 2014

There will be a different daily guided local walk, of some 7 – 10 miles, in various parts of the beautiful Cotswold areas near us, such as Castle Combe to Ford, Old Sodbury, the Cotswold Way near Bath. Daily devotional times. Dinner bed & breakfast provided (we stop for lunch at hostelries en route where you can purchase sustenance) Accommodation in twin rooms - maximum of 10 people. Fully guided walks, evening devotional sessions. Prices from just £490 for this 7 day holiday with 6 days of walking, DBB.

- Walking Week Summer 2015 FROM SPIRE TO SPA

Walking from Oxford to Bath through some of the loveliest of the southern Cotswold towns. Stay each night at The Vine for dinner bed and breakfast; transport out and back each day; (we stop for lunch at hostelries en route where you can purchase sustenance) Accommodation in twin rooms - maximum of 10 people. Further details and prices will be available soon. Oxford is only an hour from us by car, Bath 30 minutes, so the drive each day is not as bad as it sounds at first!

To book on any of our retreats - whether guided or individual - please fill in the form HERE

Details of retreats can be found at:

http://www.thevine-at-maysfarm.com/retreats/

"Once we arrived, the house drew us in like a hug and neither of us had any inclination to go anywhere ..... The ultimate hosts are surely people who who provide the perfect atmosphere and space in which to rest and dream and spend time with God. Unwittingly, perhaps, Penelope has built the kind of haven she once desperately needed and was unable to find at the time. It's clear she takes great pleasure in seeing others blessed by it." - Deborah, writing on her blog about her retreat at The Vine

When prayers are answered

March 23, 2014 by Penelope Swithinbank

Why I am surprised by answers to prayers? He may be a God of surprises, but shouldn't we expect and anticipate an answer when we talk with Him? When we share with Him our hearts, our desires, our needs, our cares?

I've heard that there are three answers to prayer - yes, no, wait.

I think I've had all three several times recently. Did I tell you what's happened?

**bright cheerful daffodils are brightening the grounds, all around the front garden, in the orchard ... a wonderful gift last August from a friend!**

- All those seemingly unsolvable problems from 6 - 9 months ago have each been answered well - but I had to learn to wait! Among them - the cottage was sold, the health issues have disappeared, and other answers too, solving several problems

- bookings are beginning to happen, people are coming on retreat and we are watching in humble amazement as the Lord blesses those who come

- a significant donation has been given (from the USA) so that the chapel and the parking area can be finished, work which will be done in April. How we thank God!

- another much smaller donation has been pledged, which enables the office to be finished

- there are a handful of regular supporters/Friends of the Vine, supporting the work through monthly giving. Not nearly enough yet, but it's a start. I'm being paid again after several months of no income at all

- a full house for the Volunteers Week, with people coming to work on getting the house and grounds ready for the summer. They are going to be sponsored for their physical hours of work (3 -4 hrs each afternoon) and the money raised will go towards the purchase of the summer house, a much-needed further quiet space for retreatants to use. Join in sponsoring them - without doing any physical work you can help towards the project! CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A VOLUNTEER!

- a single donation to enable someone to come on retreat for 2 nights who otherwise couldn't afford it and another payment for a specific individual to come for a few nights

- some rest, refreshment and renewal for us. We escaped for a week, the first time we have had a week away as just the two of us for over a year. It was wonderful; we were really blessed especially through some very helpful books - we both highly recommend "The Day is Yours - slow moving spirituality in a fast moving world" by Ian Stackhouse. It's being worked out in new daily rhythms of grace applied to our life at Mays Farm!

- the provision of a Christian part-time housekeeper! Realising it's no longer possible for me to cook, housekeep, garden, as well as lead retreats, provide spiritual direction and hospitality, now that there are more people here. So we are grateful for the unexpected provision of Rachel, who spent her teenage years in a Christian retreat centre, attends a local Vineyard church and goes to New Wine and has been on several retreats herself. Please pray for her as she begins with us on Monday March 31 (part time, 2-3 hours every Monday - Friday)

- you have been praying and supporting us! THANK YOU.

Thank you for your prayers thus far. Please keep praying -

the ministry can't do this without you!

*** * * * * ***

Upcoming Retreats:

Have a peek at our website - some of the most popular retreats are

Hotel de Chocolate (click for link)

and SEND YOUR VICAR AWAY - or your pastor or minister (click for link)

SOME OTHER DATES for your diary:

Individual retreats & Away Days

May 3 - 30, June 2-6

Available for you to come for a night or three to be rested, refreshed and renewed. Join in the rhythm of prayers if you would like, but take plenty of time to BE and to 'remain in The Vine'

Spiritual Direction available on request