Always in need of a little time out

I spent six days in Hood River Oregon, attending an intensive writers workshop. It is the first time I had gone to such a retreat, and I have already scheduled another for next year.
Of course, I could say that being in that beautiful Columbia River Gorge country was inspiring. I could point to the excellent teaching and say that is what put the experience over the top. Rubbing elbows with other serious writers was also a plus.
But I think really, the biggie was the time out.
When my grandsons blow their cool, get too intensely involved in having their own way that they just go bonkers, we send them to time out. A quiet, still place to recover a sense of equanimity. That's a big word for being even tempered under stress.
I recognize I am not too old to be sent to time out. I needed the break from routine, the chance to focus on one thing, to see what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong, and to detemine to stay in a state of tranquility even under stress. And to recognize Who gives me the peace I need.
It was a secular seminar so I imagine quite a few people didn't pull from the experience the overwhelming awe of God that sets me on a firm foundation.
But I came away glad that my heavenly Father called Time Out.
Need a time out? Take it!