Taking Time for God and Yourself

Cassidy Van Slyke Blenke reflects on the importance of taking time for yourself and connecting with God. 

I noticed that women in my life had been taking time for retreats. Some retreats were spiritual, while others were solo retreats for quiet time with oneself. It honestly never crossed my mind to engage in a retreat activity as an adult. I was only familiar with summer camps as a child and studying abroad in college, which was the closest thing I had experienced to a retreat. Upon closer observation of my life, I realized it was time to make room for myself and sign up for time away.  

Fast-forward to today. I just returned from six days away from my family after attending a women’s rock climbing retreat in the Eastern Sierra Mountains. During these six days, I engaged in self-reflection and physical exercise, challenging my mind, body, and spirit and reconnecting with my inner self and, most importantly, God.  

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35) 

Turning Over My Will and Expectations  

The courage I mustered from signing up for the retreat, in the mountains hundreds of miles away from my hometown, to the completion of the retreat took an inner tenacity that I felt had been lost for some time since after having children. Deep down inside, I knew it still existed but was waiting to be reignited. From the beginning of my trip to the end, I tried to stay in conscious contact with God, allowing myself to turn over my will and expectations to Him and what the experience would bring me. I truly and honestly, finally, let go.  

Trusting in God  

Letting go took the form of ultimately trusting in God that my husband and family would be okay without me. This also meant trusting that I deserved time to take care of myself by participating in an activity that brought me joy — climbing — and surrounding myself with nature.   

Surrendering to the retreat process also meant trusting in the women I met and the relationships I was building, and trusting that I was safe to go outside of myself, in a renewed way, even though I was temporarily leaving my little children at home and focusing on myself and my own needs.  

Each moment I spent in the mountains observing the wild beauty God created and the natural camaraderie among the women who shared similar values of celebrating movement, kinship, and self-care, I was able to tap into the part of my soul that had been lost in the messy journey of motherhood and the noisy digital world.   

Understanding What Truly Matters  

These times of stillness during the retreat reawakened a peace within me, similar to the peace I found when I was baptized as an adult and became Catholic: a peace of understanding of what truly matters to me. I recognized an overwhelming gratitude for the life God has given me and the complicated beauty of raising a family with someone I love.  

Most importantly, I recognized the humble and peaceful rewards that come from self-care, lifting up others, and celebrating everyday simple living without the internet and other things that block the straight line of communication and connection to the One Almighty God. 

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Copyright 2025 Cassidy Van Slyke Blenke
Images: Canva