quietly planting inner seeds of freedom, growth and transformation
Spring/Summer 2008

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NO AGENDA DAYS
Beginning January 10th 2008 and then every 2nd Thursday - January through June
Quiet Space/at the Farm
......click here to see brochure
To Register and for more information for this event, please call Nicole Greer at 704.502.4953

What others are saying about NO AGENDA DAYS
While having quiet time at home I tend to be very distracted with obligations and responsibilities. My experience at the Farm was totally different. I found myself reading, writing and thinking deeply the entire day. I was so immersed in what I was doing I didn't realize it was finally time to head home. It was as if the world had stopped and let me off to have some needed peace and serenity. The centered state of mind stayed with me long after I returned home. Thank you for the silence!
Rhonda Fisher, Mooresville NC

Ann,
I think the best way to sum up my experience on the farm on January 10th is through the words of Maya Angelou in a book I found in the "red room" where I had my quiet time. She said "each of us need to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us" or as Thomas Kelly said in the same book, "Listening to the eternal involves a silence within us." That's what No-Agenda day at the farm provides. Aren't you worth it? God bless
Marlon Nesbeth, CLTC, Charlotte NC
Financial Services Professional

I absolutely loved the place.  This is the first time I have seen the finished house.  
I was glad to have the opportunity to spend the day doing something "just for me."  I positioned myself in the back bedroom and enjoyed the peaceful view out of those large windows.  Although overcast and dreay outside,  there was no need for any inside lighting due to all of the windows.  I had such a wonderful day and will be back again.  Thanks so much!
Linda Kirkpatrick. Stanley, NC


The No-Agenda Day at the Lydia Group Farmhouse Retreat allowed me to focus.  I set up my space at the kitchen table and spread out.  I had a view of the woods and the fire in the living room kept me company. I set my intention to organize my time and purposely make space to ‘unschedule’ myself.  I now have protected time on my schedule that I may use to center myself and grow.  The “No-Agenda” days are in red on my schedule as well as a space of time each week.  I am so excited to know I will have time to tend to my soul in 2008.
Nicole Greer, speaker/trainer/coach, Sherrills Ford, NC

SPIRITUAL RETREATS
MINDING YOUR CALL when no one is calling
with Ann Starrette and Nicole Greer
Saturday, April 5, 2008 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm / Starrette Farmhouse Retreat, Statesville.  
Cost:  $125.00 per person - limited to 15 people
There is said to be a hidden wholeness within each of us. . .
A wholeness that once discovered and expressed, allows your life to speak with authenticity.  But it's hard and we know that!  We know that all too well!  If you're frustrated about your Call, then please come.  Learn from our mistakes and benefit from our lessons learned; receive six ancient spiritual tools to help turn everyday experiences into divine revelation.  Cost includes  "Minding Your Call" workbook, the online PATH elements profile, additional materials, delicious lunch, delightful facility and dynamic team teaching leadership.

HOLY LISTENING / Sacred Questions
An Introduction to Group Spiritual Direction
with facilitators Ann Starrette, John Drayer and Kate Tullis  
Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm / Starrette Farmhouse Retreat, Statesville.  
Cost:  $55.00 per person
Holy listening is the heart of group spiritual direction. This gentle, simple, rhythmic process of deep listening to self, God and others allows for --- one person at a time --- the healing and transformation of our world.  We come to be companions and co-listeners for the voice of God, helping each other pay prayerful attention to God's movement and invitations in the story of our life.    The process,  which occurs in small circles of four to five people, is an intentional action on our part to create a safe, quiet space to do what we were taught as children: stop, look and listen; a space where each can hear one's inner teacher, The Holy Spirit.  So, together, in community, we listen for the Ever-Abiding Spirit in ourselves, in one another and in all of life.  During this day you will learn the Holy Listening process, have "real play" practice experiences, share both challenges and blessings, and be given the opportunity to be a part of a small circle and/or introduce group spiritual direction to your church through a unique setting in which, as Parker Palmer states, "the true God comes to both comfort and disturb us."  Cost includes workbook, lunch, facility and leadership

THE WELCOMING PRAYER / attending, letting go, and surrendering
to God in the present moment of daily life.
facilitated by Ann Starrette
Saturday, June 7, 2008 from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm / Starrette Farmhouse Retreat, Statesville.
Cost: $55.00 per person
Developed by Contemplative Outreach’s late master teacher Mary Mrozowski, it is based largely on the teaching and wisdom of Fr. Thomas Keating and the eighteenth-century work Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Through my training with Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. (www.contemplativeoutreach.org) I am very excited to be providing you the opportunity to experience a prayer practice that for years now, continues to transform my response to both the challenges and ordinariness of everyday life!   Topics covered in this introductory retreat:   *  Human Condition  *  Method of the Welcoming Prayer Practice  *  Fruits of the Prayer & Extending the Fruits Into Daily Life.  " ... the ordinary events of daily life become our practice . . . The routine of life is the path to holiness for lay folk.  Contemplative prayer is aimed at transforming daily life with its never-ending round of activities."  Father Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart, p. 125  Cost includes materials, inspiring natural setting and facility, food for the soul, and  leadership.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS - with Nicole Greer
February 2 (Saturday) 10 am - 4 pm
May 9 (Friday) from 10 am - 4 pm
10:00 until 4:00 --- $159.00 -- - online profile, materials and lunch provided
......click here to read more

THE PATH - Three Day Intensive Workshop
July 11, 12 & 13, 2008 or
January 16, 17 & 18, 2009
also offered this year:
Teen Girls August 8, 9, 10, 2008
Discerning Your Birthright Gifts & Direction

Living your purpose hinges on expressing those gifts which God knitted in you while you were still in your mother’s womb. It also hinges on your willingness to learn valuable lessons, pass character tests, and remove stumbling blocks.

This workshop will pry you off dead center.
You’ll begin a journey down your ordained path, an evolutionary process that will give you the best life and job insurance you can possess... a clearly defined personal mission that will serve you as a harness and a sword by keeping you moving in the right direction, and cutting away distractions. The PATH is about alignment and high performance. Clarify your life, find purpose and fulfillment. Individuals and organizations have been learning what history has demonstrated all along—that people or groups with carefully defined missions have always led and surpassed those who have none. The process of outlining that mission statement has been, up to now, an arduous one that all too few have committed time, energy, and resources to undertake. The PATH, facilitated by Nicole Greer (assisted by Ann Starrette) provides inspiring and practical advice to lead men, women, and teens through every step of both defining and fulfilling a mission. Nicole offers clear, step by step guidance that can make writing a mission and vision statement take a matter of hours rather than months or years. Then you'll take the process one step further by identifying the specific actions you must take to realize the life you've defined for yourself. Rich with humor, exercises, meditations, and case histories, The PATH Workshop is essential for anyone seeking a lighter, clearer way in the world. Will you step out? 
Satisfaction 100% guaranteed
......click here for brochure to read more
To Register and for more information for this event, please call Nicole Greer at 704.502.4953

GROUP PATH COACHING
Are you interested in gathering with a small accountability group one morning a month?
If so, contact Nicole Greer at nicole@thelydiagroup.com and let her know of your interest.