Hello, Our founder, Deb Turnow, followed the whisper of the Spirit almost 10 years ago when she gathered a group of friends and shared the call she felt God had put on her heart ~ to create a place and space where individuals could grow and transform their relationship with God. From that whisper and that gathering of friends, Kavanna House was bor...

Today was the first day I felt angry. Angry about masks, about PPE, about PAPRs. About the trouble it takes to dress, prepare and take care of patients. Angry about limits, about new ways of being, about change. I've been adaptable so far, but resentment is rising. It's not far from my awareness. It's there when I'm inconvenienced. When, one more t...

If you are like me, you may find yourself prone to numbing out in this extended time of isolation. This is how it looks in my life: Carb loadingSocial media surfingMindless mental wanderingExtended times of inactivity In the midst of my choices I am noticing a quiet nudge to return to the basics of spiritual practices. Those practices that help me ...

Yesterday as I was making my bed, I noticed I was doing it more attentively. Smoothing edges. Tucking corners. Fluffing pillows. Making sure the comforter was in place, just right. As I did it, I felt an awakening to something that I don't usually feel when I am making my bed. I felt joy. There was something in the action of making my bed that gave...

"…the chasm between what we wanted and what is." ~ John E. Welshons Hmmm…how well does this describe where you find yourself right now? This is actually a description of grief. Maybe you hadn't even thought of what you're experiencing in the midst of this pandemic as being grief. We usually think of grief as that intense emotion we feel when someon...

The Table You are invited to spend some time with this painting, entitled, The Last Supper. Notice that there are women and children seated at the table. What arises as you look at this scene? If you are a woman, what does it feel like to, perhaps for the first time, see your gender represented at the Last Supper with Jesus? Imagine what it may hav...

Repent This word has come to be associated with asking for forgiveness and determining that you will try not to sin in the same way again.The word repent comes from the Greek word metanoia which has several similar meanings: ~ to face a new direction ~ to turn towards the light ~ to experience a transformative change of heart These definitions...

Sheltering at home. A new phrase introduced into our English vernacular. Think about it. If three months ago, someone would have told you they were "sheltering at home" you may have seen it something akin to "nesting". But in this challenging period, some think the term is closer to a punishment like "Go to your room". Our perspective can change an...

"The priceless lesson in the New Year is that endings birth beginnings and beginnings birth endings. And in this elegantly choreographed dance of life, neither ever find an end in the other."  ~Craig D. Lounsbrough  Photo Credit: Pixabay

 BC:AD This was the moment when BeforeTurned into After, and the future'sUninvented timekeepers presented arms. This was the moment when nothingHappened. Only dull peaceSprawled boringly over the earth. This was the moment when even energetic RomansCould find nothing better to doThan counting heads in remote provinces. And this was the momentW...

Gabriel's Annunciation For a momentI hesitatedon the threshold.For the spaceof a breathI paused,unwilling to disturbher last ordinary moment,knowing that the next stepwould cleave her life:that this daywould slice her storyin two,dividing all the days beforefrom all the onesto come. The artists would laterdepict the scene:Mary dazzledby the archang...

I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude. ~ Brene Brown Photo Credit: Pixabay

"There is only Christ. He is everything and he is in everything" (Colossians 3:11). If I were to write that today, people would call me a pantheist (the universe is God), whereas I am really a panentheist (God lies within all things, but also transcends them), exactly like both Jesus and Paul." ~ Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten ...

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." ~ Nelson Mandela Photo Credit: Pixabay

"The Holy One has a tendency to hide behind preposterous disguises: he is the homeless man lumbering through the park talking to himself in a loud voice, a pint of Cuervo Gold tucked into the back pocket of his jeans; she is the teenager texting her boyfriend and applying mascara at the stoplight after it has turned green; he is the young father ga...

"The divine alchemy is supremely at work, showing its power to turn even the deepest hardness of cruelty and atrocity into something new and soft and flowing." Cynthia Bourgeault, Wisdom Jesus  Photo Credit: Pixabay

"Jesus connected our criticizing others with looking at ourselves because understanding that is one of the most powerful ways to grow emotionally and spiritually (Matthew 7:3-4)."  ~ Pete Scazzero Look around and see who and what you feel critical of. "That's the clue that you are dealing with your shadow, your projections, not reality. T...

"You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."                  ~Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies "The problem is, many of the people in need of saving are in churches, and at least part of what they.         &nb...

I Praise You for What is Yet to Be I praise you that you turn me loose to go with you to the edge of now any maybe, to welcome the new, to see my possibilities, to accept my limits, and yet to begin living to the limit of passion and compassion until, released by joy I uncurl to other people and to your kingdom coming for you are gracious beyond al...

This past week at Kavanna House, we held another Formational Prayer Seminar.  In honor of all of the amazing participants in this seminar, we share this beautiful poem. With each of our breakings. you break, and with each of our woundings your own wounds grow deeper. Yet you hold the pieces together till we learn to make the new connections an...