Hi Reader!

There are many ways you ended up on this list, and from time to time I have something important to share with everyone - all 1,503 of you. This is one of those times…

💌 first, I’m about to mail our "Mark 5:19 letter" sharing all that my family has to be personally grateful for from this past year. If you’d like to know what we’ve been up to during this sabbatical year (for me) please:

Our family just returned from leading a retreat for Ministers of the Gospel in the Middle East. The theme was Resilience: Wholeness & Brokenness and drew from our research and lived experience.

Through the 7 sessions we invited participants to pause and reflect on what was most precious to them now and the dynamics of their relationship with God, one another, and themselves that could support their resilience in this season of life and ministry.
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We prepared for this retreat throughout most of last year and knew these sessions would be helpful not only for those in the room, but for all of us. The pace of life is so hurried for so many that we have lost focus on what matters most -- when everything is urgent, does anything actually matter?

So we recorded these 7 sessions and used them to frame resilience in ways that invite us to refocus on what is most precious to each of us.

But before I tell you more, a quick warning: ⚠️This is the only email I intend to send about this resource. So I’m sharing everything I think you’ll need to know that this is the right resource for you. But, if you need more information to make a decision, reply with your questions.

To make this a perfect resource to start the new year, you'll get assess to those sessions and also receive...

#1 Recommendations about how to structure a retreat wherever you are.

• I've been taking mini retreats for as long as I can remember, but intentionally since 2016 and I've been guiding others through personalized week-long counseling retreats since 2021.

#2 Since 2 of the 3 legs of our “resilience stool” are support from one another and support from ourselves, you'll get questions for personal reflection or group discussion to each session.

• That way you have the option to enjoy this resource by yourself in solitude or with a few trusted friends in a small group.

#3 Plus you’ll get a year of monthly emails to prompt you to nurture the core postures, practices, and relationships that support your resilience.

• Imagine setting aside a few days and working through a few sessions each day or working through one session a day for a week.
• Imagine enjoying these sessions with a few others in a small group or by yourself in solitude.
• Imagine next year being prompted once a month to remember a key takeaway with resources for personal reflection and group discussion, and invitations to take action that nurtures your resilience.

So that you know more of what to expect from this resource I hope will prove to be a source of grace for you those you share it with:

​🎙️listen to the welcome session here​

👀take a sneak peek of the google drive:

📺and watch Elizabeth's endorsement:

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Reader If you’re coming to the end of this year feeling strained, depleted, or worried and in need of refreshment, refocus, and resilience then these 7 sessions and extra resources are for you.

1. You will have what you need to make a mini retreat now, no matter where you are.
2. You will go into the year knowing you and those you share this with will be prompted to protect what matters most and stay the course.
3. Then, as you nurture your supportive relationships with God, one another, and yourself expectant hope will blossom.

Reader If you safeguard your mini retreat with a generosity of spirit, and make a good faith effort to fully engage with the 7 sessions soon and the monthly resources moving forward, you can expect to:

1. Develop professionally and personally in the core practices and postures of resilient ministers of the Gospel.
2. Be encouraged and challenged as a disciple of Jesus Christ regardless of your vocation.
3. Be invited into a less hurried life that honors what matters most in order to stay the course.

Plus, as a bonus, your purchase will contribute to our ministry travel fund.

• I’m unable to receive tax deductible donations this year, so your purchase now will not only benefit you all next year, but will be set aside and used to confirm what conferences we present at and other ministry opportunities we say “Yes!” to.
• Think about it: every dollar you contribute will 1) be a blessing to our family, and 2) be a blessing to those we travel to serve, and 3) be a blessing to those they serve, and 4) be a blessing to you as "this service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." (2 Cor. 9:12)

Therefore, while countless hours and 1,000s of miles and dollars were invested to create the original sessions, I’m asking you to give what you can so you can access the seven sessions and extra resources.

• And to encourage you to act soon, expect some fantastic bonus rewards when you join before December 31 🙌
• My hope is that you will receive as much value from this resource as you invest into it and it would prove to be a means of grace in your life now and through you to others in the coming year.
• Therefore be as generous as you can Reader.

Resilience: Wholeness & Brokenness The 2024 Give What You Can & Retreat Where You Are Resource is adopted from a professional development retreat offered... Read more Get it now!

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Reader - finally, would you forward this email to a few people who might be interested?

With Expectant Hope,

​ ​Geoff Whiteman, ThM, LMFT​ ​🎁 access free resources I promised to share. 💌 Read and share my latest updates. 🤝 Let me know how can I help you or your community?​ “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (excerpt from Ephesians 3:14-21)

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