We are showered every day with gifts, but they are not meant for us to keep.
Their life is in their movement, the inhale and the exhale of our shared breath.
Our work and our joy is to pass along the gift and to trust
that what we put out into the universe will always come back.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Braiding Sweetgrass
Registration is now open for the 2026 Women’s Retreat!
Years ago, my mother told me to read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. “It’s beautiful! You’ll love it!” she said. But life got in the way, and her book recommendation got added to my ever-growing list of Books I Need to Read. I finally got around to reading it last year. And guess what? It’s beautiful! You’ll love it! It is part memoir, part nature guide, all braided together with deep indigenous wisdom for life. I knew right away that it would make for a great Women’s Retreat, and I am eager to share it with you. Rev. Jennie Churchman
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and a botanist. She writes:
Hold out your hands and let me lay upon them a sheaf of freshly picked sweetgrass, loose and flowing, like newly washed hair. Golden green and glossy above, the stems are banded with purple and white where they meet the ground. Hold the bundle up to your nose. Find the fragrance of honeyed vanilla over the scent of river water and black earth and you understand its scientific name: Hierochloe odorata, meaning the fragrant, holy grass. In our language it is called wiingaashk, the sweet-smelling hair of Mother Earth. Breathe it in and you start to remember things you didn’t know you’d forgotten.
(From Braiding Sweetgrass, Preface)
Join us April 10-12 as together we remember things we didn’t even know we’ve forgotten.
The retreat will be held at the Sacré-Cœur Retreat Center in Magnolia, Illinois (just 30 miles away)! This beautiful center offers hotel-style accommodations with all single rooms and private baths. Linens and towels are provided. Cost is $260 per person. Financial assistance is available; please ask. Your registration fee includes lodging, meals, snacks, and retreat supplies, including a copy of the book. New this year by popular demand: you will receive the book prior to the retreat!
Check-in begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 10, with the first session starting at 7:00 p.m. Please eat dinner before you arrive. The retreat will end at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 12.
Please return your completed registration form and fee to the Eureka Christian Church office by Sunday, March 29.
