Spring is on the way! Usually in March, I have my doubts that the calendar is correct. This year, the snow is already melting from all but the shadowed areas and flowers are peaking out of the dirt to see if it safe to awaken. There are times that I feel that my spirit is in the month of March. My heart feels cold, wet and still frozen in places. Thankfully the Son is there to warm my soul and encourage those shy shoots of growth to rise. Before long, He has made something beautiful out of my winter. May God bring you beauty and growth this spring and Easter season.

Spring Workday. Where can you go for a mission project for only the cost of transportation? Gove Hill will hold its’ spring work day on May 12, 2012. The manor house will be open for FREE overnight stay on Friday, May 11 and FREE breakfast and lunch will be served. Contact Bill and Bernice to reserve a place for you, your family or youth group in the manor house.
Online registration available!  Gove Hill retreat has online registration for our spring arts retreat, summer creative writing retreat, and songwriting retreat. You may also make one time and recurring donations on our website as well at http://www.govehillretreat.org/donations--registration.html

New Beds! Thanks to a generous neighbor that is downsizing, we are able to obtain two new twin beds for the manor house. These will replace two single bunk beds on the third floor. These are a wonderful addition to our rooms and complement our full and queen beds we have acquired.
An easy way to Give:
You can join Good Search/Good shop and have your donations go to Gove Hill Retreat. It's simple, after you register; use them for your search engine as well as to access coupons and participating businesses and even restaurants all over the country. A small percentage of your purchase it donated to Gove Hill Retreat without you having to find that money in your budget. Thank you for your support.

Cabin Renovation project:  The Wixson Retreat looks cozier every day. With properly studded wall and new windows, the drafts are already gone from the building. We would love skilled help with this project to move it along in a timely fashion. Does your church have a team of up to 6 people who like work projects? Speak to Bill about coming to help on a week day or weekend.  We excited to have a group from Rhode Island come in as well to help. Pastors! You can make your reservations for the summer of 2012 for personal and family retreat time at the Ray Wixson Retreat. You will enjoy a comfortable space and the 187 acres Gove Hill Retreat has to offer.

Pie sales are continuing this year as we hope to do some more upgrades in our energy efficiency. Do you have time to host a pie sale at your church? Your pies could help reduced our electric consumption! We need to replace our 50+ year old commercial refrigerator. Not only will it be more energy efficient, it will also be more space efficient for food storage as well. We are committed to a cleaner environment and a more comfortable house for you. Thank you for helping make it possible.

Spring Arts Retreat 2012 will be on May 4-6, 2012. Workshops in Landscape painting with illustration, led by Reed Prescott or Photography, led by Jim Mauchly, will be presented. Registrations have begun. It may be cold out, but spring will come fast! Register by March 30, 2012 and save $50!
Writers’ conference 2012 is schedule for July 13-15. Jeffrey Overstreet will be one of our presenters this year. He has four award winning novels and is a film reviewer for Christianity Today. He also teaches at Seattle Pacific University in Washington. Robert Siegel will be our poet presenter this year. Siegel has taught at Dartmouth, Princeton, and Goethe University in Frankfurt, and for twenty-three years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he directed the graduate creative writing program and is currently professor emeritus of English. He has degrees from Wheaton, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. He is married to Ann Hill Siegel, a photographer, and lives on the coast of Maine. Register by April 30, 2012 to save $100!Songwriting Conference 2012is scheduled for July 20-22. Bill and Kay Pere will be running this conference again. They are skilled teachers with a firm understanding of the creative process that will help you get started or refine your songwriting skills. Register by April 30, 2012 to save $100!

Camp needs

Gove Hill serves people from many walks of life. Some are less able to afford coming than others. We strive to make retreats at Gove Hill affordable. Your assistance makes this ministry possible. Thank you for your donations. They keep Gove Hill available to all. Donations may be sent to Gove Hill or the region office with an earmark for Gove Hill. You may also donate online at our safe and secure website. Here are a few items Gove Hill could use.

·         New commercial refrigerator

·         Donations for improving energy efficiency (insulation, refrigeration)

·         Donations for 60 KW standby generator for manor house.

·         Building materials for the cabin renovation project.

·         Skilled Volunteers for a work project (insulation installation and cabin build) on your schedule.

Weekends and weekdays are available!

Contact Bill and Bernice for details. We are here to serve you! Need to plan ahead? Winter dates are available in February, March and April. We have one lovely September weekend available and November dates if you are looking towards a fall retreat for 2012. Check out the calendar on our website, www.govehillretreat.org, for specific dates open.  Collaborate with churches near by for a weekend retreat for youth, adults or family groups. Advanced planning helps you get the dates you wish.   govehill@abcvnh.org or 802-785-4000.

The month of February reminds us to “love one another as Christ has loved us.” As Christians, that extends past chocolates and flowers for our sweethearts, to having care and concern for people that need our attention. Our churches do many of those things well as a group. They hold fund raisers for the homeless, feed the poor and needy and pray for their communities.

 Individually I sometimes struggle loving others. I have found at times I am a recovering snob. Maybe I’m tired that day, or the person is overly demanding.  Perhaps they have gotten themselves in a mess that I feel they should have known better. God then reminds me how easy it is for me to have done the same or similar mistake. He reminds me that I am not any better than the least of his children. God doesn’t want me to not love myself, but he does call me to love others with the same respect, gentleness and caring that I desire.

 I am thankful for the lessons God teaches me in this area. I am learning to be gentler and forgiving of myself and others. Perhaps treating all people with kindness and respect is the best valentine present we can give anyone.
Online registration available!  Gove Hill retreat has online registration for our spring arts retreat, summer creative writing retreat, and songwriting retreat. You may also make one time and recurring donations on our website as well at http://www.govehillretreat.org/donations--registration.html

Wood splitter: How much wood can Bill Clark split? With a new wood splitter, it will be a lot more than by hand! We may have to get out a timer to get an exact answer that question though. We have received generous donations enough to purchase a wood splitter. Bill is looking for his best value as he is always looking for a good investment for the money spent. THANK YOU DONORS!!
An easy way to Give:
You can join Good Search/Good shop and have your donations go to Gove Hill Retreat. It's simple, after you register; use them for your search engine as well as to access coupons and participating businesses and even restaurants all over the country. A small percentage of your purchase it donated to Gove Hill Retreat without you having to find that money in your budget. Thank you for your support.

Cabin Renovation project:  February has been a month of cabin work at Gove Hill Retreat. We have had the pleasure of workers from Huntington, VT United church and First Baptist Church of Lebanon, NH. The front of the cabin has had the board and batting removed, a new door installed and new sheathing. Bill is working around the building with help of course, to remove old boards, replace it with sheathing and make sure our walls are properly studded. Window rough opening are also being properly sized for the new windows to be installed. Does your church have a team of up to 6 people who like work projects? We would love to have the help either on a Saturday or a weekday if you prefer. We excited to have a group from Rhode Island come in April as well to help. Pastors! You can make your reservations for the summer of 2012 for personal and family retreat time at the Ray Wixson Retreat. You will enjoy a comfortable space and the 187 acres Gove Hill Retreat has to offer.

Pie sales are continuing this year as we hope to do some more upgrades in our energy efficiency. Do you have time to host a pie sale at your church? Your pies could help reduced our electric consumption! We need to replace our 50+ year old commercial refrigerator. Not only will it be more energy efficient, it will also be more space efficient for food storage as well. We are committed to a cleaner environment and a more comfortable house for you. Thank you for helping make it possible.

Spring Arts Retreat 2012 will be on May 4-6, 2012. Workshops in Landscape painting with illustration, led by Reed Prescott or Photography, led by Jim Mauchly, will be presented. Registrations have begun. It may be cold out, but spring will come fast! Register by February 28, 2012 and save $100!
Writers’ conference 2012 is schedule for July 13-15. Jeffrey Overstreet will be one of our presenters this year. He has four award winning novels and is a film reviewer for Christianity Today. He also teaches at Seattle Pacific University in Washington. Robert Siegel will be our poet presenter this year. Siegel has taught at Dartmouth, Princeton, and Goethe University in Frankfurt, and for twenty-three years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he directed the graduate creative writing program and is currently professor emeritus of English. He has degrees from Wheaton, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. He is married to Ann Hill Siegel, a photographer, and lives on the coast of Maine. Register by April 30, 2012 to save $100!Songwriting Conference 2012is scheduled for July 20-22. Bill and Kay Pere will be running this conference again. They are skilled teachers with a firm understanding of the creative process that will help you get started or refine your songwriting skills. Register by April 30, 2012 to save $100!

Camp needs
Gove Hill serves people from many walks of life. Some are less able to afford coming than others. We strive to make retreats at Gove Hill affordable. Your assistance makes this ministry possible. Thank you for your donations. They keep Gove Hill available to all. Donations may be sent to Gove Hill or the region office with an earmark for Gove Hill. You may also donate online at our safe and secure website. Here are a few items Gove Hill could use:

• Two Twin size mattress sets and bed frames new or excellent condition used
• New commercial refrigerator
• Donations for improving energy efficiency (insulation, refrigeration)
• Donations for 60 KW standby generator for manor house.
• Building materials for the cabin renovation project.
• Skilled Volunteers for a work project (insulation installation and cabin build) on your schedule.

Weekends and weekdays are available!

Contact Bill and Bernice for details. We are here to serve you! Need to plan ahead? Winter dates are available in February, March and April. We have one lovely September weekend available and November dates if you are looking towards a fall retreat for 2012. Check out the calendar on our website, www.govehillretreat.org, for specific dates open.  Collaborate with churches near by for a weekend retreat for youth, adults or family groups. Advanced planning helps you get the dates you wish.   govehill@abcvnh.org or 802-785-4000.

_Finally we have snow cover and cold weather in Vermont and New Hampshire. I can do without the below zero temperatures, but the snow cover makes the winter season worth it! The snow takes our limited sun light and magnifies it creating a brilliant landscape. All those tiny snowflakes working together do an amazing job.

Sometimes I feel like a snowflake. My dad would now interject that he always knew I was flaky! I feel small, insignificant in the vast field. I wonder how I make a difference in the world. Like the snow flakes, by being part of a wonderful community of Christians, I am part of something bigger. I am part of the body of Christ. We work together to reflect God’s love and create a brilliant display of His peace and grace to the world around us.

To all you fellow “flakes” out there working together. Thank you for creating a community where we can shine our best.
Credit Cards: We are pleased to announce we are able to accept credit cards at Gove Hill. We will soon have online registration for our events.
An easy way to Give:
You can join Good Search/Good shop and have your donations go to Gove Hill Retreat. It's simple, after you register; use them for your search engine as well as to access coupons and participating businesses and even restaurants all over the country. A small percentage of your purchase it donated to Gove Hill Retreat without you having to find that money in your budget. Thank you for your support.

Cabin Renovation project:  Deck work has begun with the assistance of Huntington Church volunteers. Warwick, RI church volunteers are planning to come in the spring. Do you have time, especially midweek to help?  Volunteers on your schedule or on our workdays are most welcome. Pictures are posted on Facebook if you would like to track the cabins’ progress.

Energy Audit Pie sales are continuing this year as we hope to do some more upgrades in our energy efficiency. Do you have time to host a pie sale at your church? Your pies could help make the oil deliveries lessen! We are committed to a cleaner environment and a more comfortable house for you. Thank you for helping make it possible.

Spring Arts Retreat 2012 will be on May 4-6, 2012. Workshops in Landscape painting with illustration, led by Reed Prescott or Photography, led by Jim Mauchly, will be presented. Registrations have begun. It may be cold out, but spring will come fast! Early registration discounts are available.
Writers’ conference 2012 is schedule for July 13-15. Jeffrey Overstreet will be one of our presenters this year. He has four award winning novels and is a film reviewer for Christianity Today. He also teaches at Seattle Pacific University in Washington. Robert Siegel will be our poet presenter this year. Siegel has taught at Dartmouth, Princeton, and Goethe University in Frankfurt, and for twenty-three years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he directed the graduate creative writing program and is currently professor emeritus of English. He has degrees from Wheaton, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. He is married to Ann Hill Siegel, a photographer, and lives on the coast of Maine.Songwriting Conference 2012is scheduled for July 20-22. Bill and Kay Pere will be running this conference again. They are skilled teachers with a firm understanding of the creative process that will help you get started or refine your songwriting skills.

Camp needs

Gove Hill serves people from many walks of life. Some are less able to afford coming than others. We strive to make retreats at Gove Hill affordable. Your assistance makes this ministry possible. Thank you for your donations. They keep Gove Hill available to all. Donations may be sent to Gove Hill or the region office with an earmark for Gove Hill.  Here are a few items Gove Hill could use.

Two Twin size mattress sets and bed frames new or excellent condition used

Wood splitter

Donations for improving energy efficiency (insulation, refrigeration)

Donations for 60 KW standby generator for manor house.

Building materials for the cabin renovation project.

Skilled Volunteers for a work project (insulation installation and spring Gazebo build) on your schedule.

Weekends and weekdays are available!

Contact Bill and Bernice for details. We are here to serve you! Need to plan ahead? Winter dates are available in February, March and April. We have one lovely September weekend available and November dates if you are looking towards a fall retreat for 2012. Check out the calendar on our website, www.govehillretreat.org, for specific dates open.  Collaborate with churches near by for a weekend retreat for youth, adults or family groups. Advanced planning helps you get the dates you wish.   govehill@abcvnh.org or 802-785-4000.

 

 

_ Our last groups for the year have come and gone. At Gove Hill, we are finishing those late fall chores. One of them is filling the wood shed. Although we often strive to have this done sooner in the fall, we are glad to have a mildly cool day for cutting, splitting and stacking wood. We are thankful for several groups of people who have taken time out of their retreats to assist with splitting wood. Today, Bill and I have rented a splitter so we can finish it all in one day. These men split the wood by hand. By the quickness of their skills, I would so some of them learned this craft at an early age. (Sorry Ladies, no women has volunteered to split wood this year, yet!) We didn’t ask for their help, but they saw the pile of unsplit wood and our emptying wood shed. They just took up the tools and started splitting and stacking. Bill and I felt blessed to receive their gift of time. It warmed my heart more than the crackling fire ever will.

As Christmas comes, take time to thank God for the people in your life that have seen your need and quietly met you where you were. Then thank those people for their kindness and finally, go and do likewise.

Credit Cards: We are please to announce we are able to accept credit cards at Gove Hill. We will soon have online registration for our events.

An easy way to Give:
You can join Good Search/Good shop and have your donations go to Gove Hill Retreat. It's simple, after you register,  use them for your search engine as well as to access coupons and participating businesses and even restaurants all over the country. A small percentage of your purchase it donated to Gove Hill Retreat with out you having to find that money in your budget. Thank you for your support.

Cabin Renovation project:  Footings for the new porch are prepared and the deck work will begin soon. Volunteers on your schedule or on our workdays are most welcome.

Energy Audit This past year we sold so many pies that we were able to fund half of our furnace purchase, nearly $6,000! Any pie bakers out there that are willing to do the same are greatly appreciated! Gove Hill has had an energy audit that strongly recommends increased insulation in our attics. Just with this improvement alone we could reduce air loss of 20%. Our budget is stretched with the purchase of the furnace, but we hope to address this within 2012 or sooner if funding becomes available. Other smaller yield efficiency projects, such as windows and doors, will come after this larger project is complete.

Spring Arts Retreat 2012 will be on May 4-6, 2012. Workshops in Landscape painting with illustration, led by Reed Prescott or Photography, led by Jim Mauchly, will be presented. Registration will be starting soon.
Writers’ conference 2012 is schedule for July 13-15. Jeffrey Overstreet will be one of our presenters this year. He has four award winning novels and is a film reviewer for Christianity Today. He also teaches at Seattle Pacific University in Washington. Robert Siegel will be our poet presenter this year. Siegel has taught at Dartmouth, Princeton, and Goethe University in Frankfurt, and for twenty-three years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he directed the graduate creative writing program and is currently professor emeritus of English. He has degrees from Wheaton, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. He is married to Ann Hill Siegel, a photographer, and lives on the coast of Maine.Songwriting Conference 2012is scheduled for July 20-22. Bill and Kay Pere will be running this conference again. They are skilled teachers with a firm understanding of the creative process that will help you get started or refine your songwriting skills.

Camp needs

Gove Hill serves people from many walks of life. Some are less able to afford coming than others. We strive to make retreats at Gove Hill affordable. Your assistance makes this ministry possible. Thank you for your donations. They keep Gove Hill available to all. Donations may be sent to Gove Hill or the region office with an earmark for Gove Hill. Here are a few items Gove Hill could use.

Two Twin size mattress sets and bed frames new or excellent condition used

Wood splitter

Donations for improving energy efficiency (insulation, refrigeration)

Donations for 60 KW standby generator for manor house.

Building materials for the cabin renovation project.

Skilled Volunteers for a work project (insulation installation and spring Gazebo build) on your schedule.

Weekends and weekdays are available!

Contact Bill and Bernice for details. We are here to serve you! Need to plan ahead? Winter dates are available in February, March and April. We have a lovely September weekend available and November dates if you are looking towards a fall retreat for 2012. Check out the calendar on our website, www.govehillretreat.org, for specific dates open.  Collaborate with churches near by for a weekend retreat for youth, adults or family groups. Advanced planning helps you get the dates you wish.   govehill@abcvnh.org or 802-785-4000.

 

__  Hello, my name is Bernice and I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. How do I know this? Just look at Gove Hill Retreat’s freezer, I have over 14 cubic feet of sliced apples for making into pies. That translates into 1200 serving of apple pie in my larder! I do feel as if we have apples busting out at the seams, but it is a good feeling.

God asked us to be prepared, if he asks for pies, I am more than ready! (I wonder if the story of the 10 virgins would work with apple pie instead of oil lamps.)

Somehow I think God is asking us to have our hearts ready for Him and His work. I have to ask myself if I have been as diligent with spiritual fruit as tree fruit. Am I busting at the seams with truth, love, joy, gentleness, kindness, patience, self-control and faithfulness? Looking into my heart I can see there is still plenty of room for more there!  

As we head into winter and finish our harvesting and fall projects, don’t forget to work on your spiritual renovation project too. Ask God to store the fruits of the spirit in your heart. May you be busting out at the seams!

Cabin Renovation project:  The decking for the new porch needs to be built to better access the structure. When we raised the foundation, we removed the old stairs and the ease of access. The next step of gutting the old fixtures in preparation for the new. Volunteers on your schedule or on our workdays are most welcome.

Gazebo project: The Gazebo is finished for the winter. Look for pictures on our website and Facebook.   

Energy Audit Are you wondering what we do with all those apple pies I mentioned above? This past year we sold so many pies that we were able to fund half of our furnace purchase, nearly $6,000! Any pie bakers out there that are willing to do the same is greatly appreciated! Gove Hill has had an energy audit that strongly recommends increased insulation in our attics. Just with this improvement alone we could reduce air loss of 20%. Our budget is stretched with the purchase of the furnace, but we hope to address this within 2012 or sooner if funding becomes available. Other smaller yield efficiency projects, such as windows and doors, will come after this larger project is complete.

Spring Arts Retreat 2012 will be on May 4-6, 2012. Workshops in Landscape painting with illustration, led by Reed Prescott or Photography, led by Jim Mauchly, will be presented. Registration will be starting soon.
Writers’ conference 2012 is schedule for July 13-15. We have just confirmed that Jeffrey Overstreet will be one of our presenters this year. He has four award winning novels and is a film reviewer for Christianity Today. He also teaches at Seattle Pacific University in Washington. Songwriting Conference 2012is scheduled for July 20-22. Bill and Kay Pere will be running this conference again. They are skilled teachers with a firm understanding of the creative process that will help you get started or refine your songwriting skills.

Camp needs

Gove Hill serves people from many walks of life. Some are less able to afford coming than others. We strive to make retreats at Gove Hill affordable. Your assistance makes this ministry possible. Thank you for your donations. They keep Gove Hill available to all. Donations may be sent to Gove Hill or the region office with an earmark for Gove Hill. Here are a few items Gove Hill could use.

Two Twin size mattress sets and bed frames new or excellent condition used

Wood splitter

Donations for improving energy efficiency (insulation, refrigeration)

Donations for 60 KW standby generator for manor house.

Building materials for the cabin renovation project.

Skilled Volunteers for a work project (insulation installation and spring Gazebo build) on your schedule.

Weekends and weekdays are available!

Contact Bill and Bernice for details. We are here to serve you! Need to plan ahead? We are also receiving bookings for 2012. Mid-week dates are available in the fall still. Check out the calendar on our website, www.govehillretreat.org, for specific dates open.  Collaborate with churches near by for a weekend retreat for youth, adults or family groups. Advanced planning helps you get the dates you wish.   govehill@abcvnh.org or 802-785-4000.