TYME OUT Blogs!

By Brenda Benishek

The hospitality staff along with the retreat staff and volunteers have been very busy this summer. There is much going on, in and outside the building. There is painting going on all over. Several of the larger projects have been painting and rearranging the cafeteria., painting the entry ways, and painting the inside stairwells (all much needed). The color schemes have been decided with the help of Jessie Williams (Margie’s daughter). Great Ideas.

Work is also being done on the beanbag chairs in the meeting rooms. Material has been purchased and patterns have been cut to sew the new bean bag chairs and mushroom stools. SSND sisters are helping with the sewing.

We are so excited to get these projects done before the new retreat season stars this fall. All this is going on along with vacations, Farmer’s Markets, and scheduled summer retreats. The staff is looking forward to our staff retreat in August. Yay!

P.S.- Anyone out there who would like to donate their professional knowledge in painting, sewing, etc, please contact us at 262-966-1800. Thanks!  

Howdy TYME OUT Family and Friends:

Without much introduction of myself, I am Andrew Schueller and I am the new retreat director here at TYME OUT. I had the privilege this past week to once again chaperone a mission trip for my home parish. During a discussion over lunch one day one of the kids in my work group made an interesting comment: “I believe in God and Jesus and All, but I just don’t have time to pray everyday or go to mass every week.” This is a statement I feel is true of many young adults today; between school, sports, extracurricular, homework, and even jobs many teens struggle to make time for Christ and religious education classes and retreats are just more things to work into their busy lives.

However I think there is a larger issue at hand: we have come to view religion as another activity to try to dedicate time to. In reality Catholicism and Christianity is not an “activity” but it is a lifestyle. If you broadly look at scripture you quickly discover that it is all about how to live! Love, forgiveness, service, and sacrifice are all themes found in scripture and all of these are things we can’t just make time for, but must be part of how we approach everything and everyone everyday. This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 10: 25-37) is a perfect example of this way of life. A Jewish man is robbed and left for dead and politicians and priests walk past and do nothing; but a Samaritan (at this time the Jews and the Samaritans despised each other) who easily could have walked by because of this distaste between their cultures, is the one who stops and helps the man simply because he is human.

Being Christian is an action, a mindset, a moral code that we must carry with us as we do everything; and like all lifestyles we need to feed our beliefs, improve our mindsets, to better understand morality and to do that we need to deepen our personal relationship with God AND attend communal mass to hear the scriptures, hear the homilies, discuss them with others of our community, and receive Christ in the Eucharist so we can BE Christ for others. If we don’t view prayer and mass in this way it becomes just another activity and we cease to be like our Christ. As Mahatma Gandhi said about Christianity; “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” By adapting a Christian lifestyle and not just view religion as another activity to add to our busy schedules, and then through our actions and great Love we will BE Christ to others.

I won’t say “good-bye”. How about “blessings until the next time we meet”.

Parting is such sweet sorrow. I will miss you all. I have made such great friends over the course of the last three plus years.

Leaving TYME OUT leaves my heart heavy. It has been the best place to work in which I have been afforded the daily opportunity to pray. … and not to pray for more and larger donations!! but to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit on such Holy ground.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

Thanks for giving me the season and being the reason for wanting to continue our relationship for a lifetime.

Please pray for me as I venture into consulting work for other non-profits.

You will be in my prayers,

Kathy Wisnefski
Development Director through Friday, July 9th.

After hearing of the idea of a farmers market held at TYME OUT, I was immediately interested, but I never believed that we could actually make it happen. I was brought into the picture a few months into the planning process.  I was excited to be a part of it but not exactly sure how I was going to be of help to anyone knowing I have minimal experience with markets.  At my second planning meeting it was decided that I was going to be the Market Coordinator!  Not going to lie… I left that meeting thinking, “What did I just agree to?!?  I have no idea what I am doing!” Accepting the Market Coordinator role was definitely a step out of my box (a.k.a the TYME OUT kitchen).

Anyways, after months of preparation and support from our partners, Tall Pines Conservancy, Sunseed Eco Education Center, Town Hall Library, the North Lake County Farmer’s Market is now up and running strong and is held here on the TYME OUT grounds every first and third Thursday of the month.  We have a great blend of friendly vendors who sell homegrown produce and homemade products with whom I look forward to chatting at every market.  We have everything from elk meat to homemade cheesecakes and just about everything in between.  We also have handmade crafts, fresh veggies and flowers, mustard, fudge sauce, butter, homemade breads and rolls, yogurt, cheese, pork, beef, and chicken products.  We even have fresh cooked brats for you to eat while you shop.

The market has been quite the learning experience for me, but I must say I am loving the opportunity to be involved with the friendly vendors and community!

             Come join us for the next market on Thursday, July 15^th. For more information about the market and vendors, please visit the North Lake Country Farmer’s Market website.

by Margie Lang

This is my 9th summer at TYME OUT and it truly is a different kind of summer.  This is the first summer that we are not offering summer camp.  It was a very tough decision for us to stop offering this program.  It had been a part of TYME OUT for over half of the 30 years of TYME OUT”s existence. 

It was usually right around this time that the first camp would be beginning.  Perhaps it would be theater camp or writing camp, or soccer camp or art camp; whatever the theme, the dynamic at TYME OUT would change for the 7 or 8 weeks of camp tyme!  Our mission during these weeks of camp would be the same: Helping each child reach their full potential.

I understand the decision to no longer offer camp, in fact I was part of that decision making process.  However, I miss the laughter that filled the halls, the wake-up calls, the campfire smores, the clean dorm awards.  I miss all the people that we only got to see in the summer, camp staff, campers, camp coordinators.  To those summer people who no longer grace our halls, I say thank you for all of the years of camp.  You are not here, but we haven’t forgotten.  Peace.