My husband and I were given an unbelievable gift! It is a long story so I will try my best to summarize. For nearly a decade, I had been running a therapeutic ranch with my dad and sister serving those who had experienced complex trauma. Tucked in the back recesses of my mind was always this dream of creating a quiet retreat, a place of refuge for the soul. I think I longed for it because God new I needed it most. I am a striver by nature. A productive busy bee that never stops (well, at least I used to be). I ran myself into complete exhaustion and burnout trying to be everything to everyone for way too long. Thinking I had to prove myself and find significance, at the ripe old age of 38, I ended up in the hospital with the doctors thinking I might have had a stroke. Yep, that’s what striving, and stress can get you.

Something had to change.

Well change it did. But not completely in the way I had hoped. I lost my father suddenly and unexpectedly. One moment he was here helping my sister and I run the ranch and the next moment he was gone. He was the horse whisperer, the veterinarian and specialist and he was also the sincerest, most compassionate man I had ever known. When he died, part of me died too. Every smell on the farm brought me right back to him. I’d turn around, but he wasn’t there. The ranch just didn’t feel the same anymore. For five years, I struggled in a fog not really knowing it, until I crashed. I had nothing left to do but reflect and seek the Lord as I laid in that hospital bed.

There are so many twists and turns in this story it is hard to tell it in a linear fashion. But after my father passed, a gentleman he had known in high school came to visit. At the viewing he became aware of the ranch we had been running and because of the kindness my father had shown him, he wanted to honor his legacy. He had discovered that land had gone up for sale right next to our house. Pointing to the land just beyond our fence, he looked at me and said, “I want to buy that land right there for you in your dad’s honor.”

What? I don’t think I said it out loud, but I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. You wanna do what? He proceeded to say that my father had been kind to him when not many people had. My dad had left an impression on his soul and more than thirty years later my dad’s acts of kindness led to an open door. A gift straight from heaven to us. I still at times can’t believe it’s true. The retreat center is now a reality because my daddy loved well. His heart of compassion, love for the Lord, and generous spirit now lives and breathes through me.

The rest is history. From that moment on, God has been providing just like that. Out of the blue, moving the hearts of people to come alongside us so that an oasis of peace could be created that would lead people straight to the heart of God’s limitless love for them. There is a line in the song, Head to the Heart, by United Pursuit that perfectly expresses our hope for every weary traveler that enter the fields of Selah Ranch: “More than words, more than good ideas I found your love in the open fields…From the head to the heart you take me on a journey of letting go and getting lost in you.”

May you find his love in the open fields. In God’s canvas (aka, nature) you can come away, leaving all distractions behind and get lost in his love for you. His love knows just what you need, and he will meet you here, we just simply believe this to be true. And when you leave, you won’t be the same. His love always leaves us better than how he found us!

So, join us and experience one of our restorative and transforming retreats, or reserve a day just for you (or your team). We look forward to meeting you and coming alongside you on your healing journey.