Although only about an hour drive from almost anywhere in the Kansas City metro area, it feels like a world away—a place where you don’t do anything, you just be. This is Timber Creek.
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME
Set on 80 spectacular wooded acres in Drexel, Mo., Timber Creek Retreat House, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is the dream of founders and directors Tom and Beth Jacobs––Tom, a former monk in the 1980s and Beth, a school teacher and reading specialist––who together spent almost two decades laying the groundwork for this contemplative home.
Their time-honored dream to build a place where people from all walks of life could get off the merry-go-round of life’s ups and downs to discover their deeper purpose, embrace their own gifts and be transformed came to fruition in June 2012. Today, guests will find an awe-inspiring, 10,800-square-foot place of rest and reflection that truly lives up to its mission: renew, refresh, return to life.
The name–-Timber Creek Retreat House—is essential to its core heartbeat. “Timber Creek is a retreat house, not a ‘retreat center,’” Tom explains. “Retreat centers have multiple rooms and conduct conferences and multiple workshops. Timber Creek was designed and placed in nature to emphasize an environment that’s intimate, cozy, private and quiet.”
Even that distinction often flies by those unaccustomed to the benefits of a retreat.
“Although we do offer a wide variety of meditation, both instructional and how to deepen, yoga with teachers who bring their own students, women’s midlife divorce recovery and other retreats,” says Beth, “the main idea is to gift yourself, whether for the day, overnight, a weekend or an extended stay, by just coming on retreat.”
The daily “itinerary” is noticeably and wonderfully scant, with three meditation periods (8 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.) followed by a meal. The in-between is up to you.
WHERE RUSTIC MEETS ZEN
From the moment you cross the threshold, it’s evident that a lot of love and great emphasis was placed on bringing nature inside. Graceful stone archways adorn the main level hearth and sun rooms, complete with oversized leather furniture, rocking chairs, round, natural wood coffee and end tables and a library of spiritually-based books.
The focal point here is a natural stone fireplace flanked by expansive prairie windows stretching up to meet the 10-foot crossbeams and pitched roof ceiling above.
The seven comfortable guest rooms––Sycamore, Walnut, Oak, Hawthorne, Cedar, Redbud and Evergreen (all named after native trees found on the property)––evoke a rustic, log cabin feel. The decor features handcrafted woodwork and hardwood floors with modern amenities, including California king-size beds with oodles of oversized pillows, beautiful side tables, writing desks, large leather chairs and reading table relaxation areas, ceiling fans and individual temperature controls.
Dual sink vanities, roomy closets, eight-foot high tiled glass–enclosed showers and earth tone towels and floor mats accentuate the spacious bathrooms. In the kitchen, more subtle earthy hues, natural stone and ceramic mosaics spill over to the warm and inviting dining room. Here, a wall of stone-framed prairie windows overlook the spindly, reed-peppered pond and birdfeeder that quite naturally morphed into supplementary sustenance for the sundry of squirrels and deer that wander upon it.
Amenities include almost two miles of hiking trails through lush woods and pasture, a spiritual cinema room for inspirational films and complimentary yoga classes for weekend guests. Budget-friendly extra comforts include soothing massages and spiritual mentoring sessions where guests can discuss, discover and learn breakthrough practices and insights designed to assist and support the areas of one’s life where a shift or a lift is needed.
“We teach practices that assist the shift and/or offer a spark of support to areas where one wants to aspire,” explains Tom. “These are practices that help people get unstuck and move forward.”
Weather permitting, numerous multi-level, private al fresco patios with glider lounge chairs and wrought-iron tables provide intimate areas were guests can read, unwind and gaze at the captivating landscape.
The ambiance, inside and out, beautifully ties into the Jacobs’ oft repeated acronym KISS: “Keep It Simple, Sweetheart.” It’s a gentle nod to the effortlessness of it all.
GO WITHIN
Beyond the instrumental music playing softly overhead in the dining area, the only other melody comes from the three and a half story high Tom O’Sullivan Memorial Tower Bell signaling the next meditation session. It rings in memory of the Jacobs’ dear friend and former board member who bequeathed his funeral memorial gifts to Timber Creek.
The symbolism does not escape me—the timbre of a bell reminding you of something you have heard before, the inability to unring it and instead live with that life consequence and the clarity and understanding that can come from it.
“The bell tower was in our original plan all along,” says Tom. “In discussions with the O’Sullivan family, the idea emerged to have the bell tower named in his honor. We think of him every time the bell is rung.”
No matter one’s religious beliefs, the solace of the Meditation Room overlooking the pond and woods beyond invites you to reconnect with God/the Presence/the Voice of Spirit—whatever you call it—inside.
“Tom and I have observed the high stress and deadlines in people’s lives, and we have created a place and a space for people to experience a quality rest stop from the hectic pace,” says Beth. “The retreat environment is meant to better equip them to return to their lives, conscious of their purpose and to help enhance the world.”
Each meditation session—guests sitting eyes closed on comfortable, wide-cushion chairs or cross-legged on meditation pillows on the floor—is led by Tom and/or Beth and includes 15 contemplative minutes of silence, a reading and perhaps a song (Tom is an accomplished singer, songwriter and recording artist). The couple says it all opens the channels for deep inner listening.
There’s more about enchanting Timber Creek Retreat House coming up!
For more information about Timer Creek, call 816-619-3399 or visit http://TimberCreekRetreat.org.
Lysa Allman is a freelance writer and the publisher and editor of Amazing Escapades, offering “Adventures for the Mind, Bod and Belly” (www.amazingescapades.com). She can be reached at editor@amazingescapades.com.