I had some leave in hand after working a hot month where I was doing twelve hour stretch duties night and day.I looked at the holiday brochure and nothing appealed.I decided to google christian retreat centre and that is how I came across Stanton House.I kept my options open but wrote to them.The letter I received was so hands on and had an air of familiarity.Ruth had written back saying they would book a room for me for the days I had asked for if I wanted.It was in a village in Oxford.
Stanton house is run by two couples who felt a call from God to run this retreat centre,and it apparently runs full all the year round.We were ministered to by one couple.Ruth is practical,matter of fact and is very efficient and John ,the other half has a sensitivity of a deeply caring man of God.Ruth fed us with wonderful home-cooked meals and John with kindly concern and the word of God in devotions every evening after supper.There were seven of us from different walks of life,I was deeply touched to see the impact of a ministry like theirs were making to different people who walked through their door.There is a baptist vicar who had a calling from God to visit this place every wednesday.He spends time in the prayer room and is available to counsel.There is a prayer room and a community kitchen stocked with tea.coffee and breakfast material.The rooms are comfortable with settings strategically decorated to keep the creative and reflective juices flowing ,each room has this writing desk which beckons you every now and then to write something.One is very clear that money should not be a factor keeping one out of Stanton house.
My welcome verse was one on worship.One can hear the birds,the nature,the bells from the distant church ring.One has access to the green grounds which actually extends all the way to the sheep farm.International church volunteers help Ruth and John with the management.One feels direly tempted to pitch in because one feels so much at home.
What impressed me more than anything was John and Ruth's willingness to share their lives with everyone that walks in through the door.I often found them at my door calling me for supper incase I had missed hearing the bell.It was humbling to see them like a family member running up the three stories and standing outside our door.The meals were the time the hosts would expertly draw every member in,asking questions and just expressing interest in each of our lives.
The evening devotion is called the thought for the day and it was never over the top.We looked at the different aspects of the charecter of God apart from being a father.We also looked at the mount of transfiguration and the God's affirmation of His son.The last evening, it was a simple message on how straight after the Mount of transfiguration ,Jesus comes down to face disciples who bring before him a dumb boy,they cannot heal.The message was simple.Jesus is with us when we have our mountain top experiences and He is with us when we go down to the valley to do the mundane.Visitors like me are there around the year except for a fortnight in December.
I am more than convinced that pulpits and conferences have their moments,often few and far between but it is in the mundane of serving ,like Ruth behind the apron in the kitchen or John filling in the gaps,I often chanced upon him washing,stocking up the community kitchen,clearing the table..behind the scenes,...and yet was always available for us,one feels the presence of the Lord .....for a christian, home is where the Lord Jesus is honoured ....and I felt at home in Stanton House.
Comments