Get Your Skinny On: A Desert Sojourn Retreat

GET YOUR SKINNY ON is a retreat to help participants embrace their true identities and prepare for a post-pandemic life in God’s presence.

Are you ready…

• for an escape from this pandemic?
• to share your experiences during this time and how it either changed you or encouraged you?
• to “get your skinny on living again?”

Then join us for a time of laughter, discovery, worship, and exploration in God’s Word that brings us together—masked or un-masked—to return to life with all the possibilities that God has for us!

Participants will learn to life life through…

• Identity—these days, it’s easy to lose one’s identity as we melt into the daily rush, and then find ourselves in a pandemic that changes everything about who we are and what we do. Join in lively discussion, exploration and sharing experiences about living our real identity as a child of God
• Truth and Grace—In today’s sharply divided society, we find ourselves gingerly seasoning our words and actions about truth. How do we “lace our words of truth with grace?” We’ll explore how we can better speak truth in love and extend grace gracefully, embracing a path through what divides us to reconciliation.
• God’s Word—What does this oldest living Book of the universe mean to us? Is it alive to us or is it a decoration on the coffee table? With more time on our hands this year, did we reach for it more often for answers, consolation, comfort? We’ll discuss how staying rooted in God’s Word gives us the strength we need in tough time.
• Legacy—Many suffered loss in 2020. If not from COVID-19, from friendships divided, and families separated. Our relationships to family and friends is our legacy. We’ll discover the importance of our faith-footprint for those who come behind us, and of those whose faith-footprints we are still walking in.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Monday, March 15

• 12:00p Lunch Together
• 1:30 – 4:00p Opening Worship; Session One: Get Your Skinny On: Identity; Labyrinth Walk
• 4:00 – 5:30 BREAK
• 5:30p Dinner
• 7:00p Session Two: Get Your Skinny On: Truth and Grace; Fellowship

Tuesday, March 16

• 7:00a Fitness Nature Walk
• 8:00a Breakfast
• 9:30a – 12:00p Opening Worship; Session Three: Get Your Skinny On: God’s Word
• 12:00p Lunch
• 1:00 – 4:00p Options: Hike Sears Kay Ruins (weather permitting) or enjoy the day basking poolside, reading, etc.
• 4:00 – 4:45p Gather for Reflection
• 5:30p Dinner
• 7:00 – 9:00p Session Four: Get Your Skinny On: Legacy; Fellowship

Wednesday, March 17

• 7:00a Intentional Prayer Walk on Campbell Prayer Path
• 8:00a Breakfast; Checkout
• 9:30 – 10:30a Wrap-Up with PPE’s and Take-away with Roundtable Discussion and Sharing
• 10:30 – 11:00a BREAK
• 11:00a – 12:00p Closing Worship
• 12:00p Fellowship Lunch and Farewells

The cornerstone Scripture for this new Desert Sojourn retreat is Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever.”

The retreat theme song is Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Your retreat leader is Cyndy Warnier, a chaplain, retreat leader, hobby photographer and retired camp host on the road. She will help you “get your skinny on life” again. No boring class lecture here. Cyndy will have you thinking, moving, singing, laughing and sharing life experiences with one another. Gathering with your fellow sojourners is the perfect way to leave 2020 behind and embrace a renewed spirit for living each day!

Price per person:

• One person, private room : $483 per person
• Two people, two in a room : $417 per person
• Three people, three in a room : $377 per person

Price includes: Three days of programming, two nights lodging and 7 meals (3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners)

Guests may arrange with Spirit in the Desert to arrive early and depart late for an extra fee.

All are welcome to this Desert Sojourn Retreat at Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center in Carefree, Arizona!

Cyndy Warnier has worn many hats in her life, paramedic, dental hygienist, music/worship leader, author, and National Parks chaplain. Recently retired from Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center, she and her husband Al are now full-time RV’ers and camp hosts, which provides Cyndy opportunities for outdoor ministry. In her spare time, she creates retreats of all kinds, including adult VBS programs and limited hospice chaplaincy. Cyndy loves teaching and reaching people with the love God and love for one another, including all of Creation! Whether through her online devotions, photography nature walks, or in a retreat setting, Cyndy leads lively classes in which you can worship, sing, share experiences with one another, and of course, laugh!

Cyndy is passionate about photography, which she integrates into her ministry. A favorite she shares was from a recent trip to Creede, CO, which led to over 1,000 photos—150 of them had a moose as the subject. “Why so many pics of a moose?” The answer is best given in the words of the great photographer, Ansel Adams, “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”