E-news from the Christian Family Living Center

November 2004 Vol. 1. Issue 1

Greetings from Topsail Island!
Welcome to the first edition of High Tidings, a new monthly e-newsletter designed to provide brief updates about CFL people and activities. High Tidings is designed to supplement CFL Good News, the print newsletter published by Jim Keck and his crew.

Turkey, the beach and . . .paint??!!
Four families have already registered for the Thanksgiving celebration and work weekend at the center. We’ll feast on turkey with all the trimmings on Thursday and put on our painter’s caps and work boots for the rest of the weekend. A variety of volunteer projects are lined up, and many involve painting the outside of the renovated building. Join some good folk for work, play, prayer and fun anytime from Wednesday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Nov. 28. For more information or to reserve a room for you and your family (at no cost), please contact the center at (910) 328-1584 or by e-mail at cflcenter@charterinternet.com.

It’s beginning to look (a little) like Christmas
Want a break from the malls, the ads and the other trappings of the shopping season? Come to CFL for a Family Advent Retreat Dec. 3 to 5 or Dec. 10 to 12. Prepare as a family for Christ’s coming. Join Brother Ray McQuade and Father Rich Kuhn – and their special guest, the great detective Sherlock Holmes – as they unravel the true meaning of Christmas. For more information or to reserve a room for you and your family, please contact the center at (910) 328-1584 or by e-mail at cflcenter@charterinternet.com. Suggested amount is $75 per adult, $49 for teens, and $25 for children 3 to 12. The maximum for an immediate family is $290. Applications are available on the center’s website, www.christianfamilyliving.org. Hurry!! Only a few places are still available.

Home at CFL for Holiday Retreats
The center is sponsoring family retreats for both Christmas and New Year’s. The Christmas retreat runs from Dec. 24 to 28, and the New Year’s retreat will be Dec. 30 to Jan. 3. Information and applications are available on the center’s website, www.christianfamilyliving.org.

October at the Center
Saturday, Oct. 16, was a special evening at the CFL dining room: Linen tablecloths. Lenox china. Waiters in tuxedos. Kairos Outside, an organization that ministers to the families of people in prison, “put on the Ritz,” as part of their fall retreat. Long-time CFL friends and supporters, Will and Carol Evans, are very involved with Kairos Outside and coordinated decorating the center for the weekend.

Directors and Board members from the six Marianist retreat centers in the U.S. gathered at our center Oct. 5 to 7 for the annual meeting of Marianist Retreat Ministry. MFM Board president Jim Girardi and MFM Board member Bro. Jack Ventura hosted the event with new CFL director Ed DeBerri. Carol Weiss and Jim Morris were the chefs and staff for the event.

Forty-some members of the Haugh family celebrated Marilyn and Lee Haugh’s 50th wedding anniversary with a family reunion weekend at CFL Oct. 15 to 17. Brother Ray McQuade and Father Rich Kuhn facilitated the weekend. The couple chose CFL as the site for their special event because so many members of their family had attended and loved various CFL events over the years. (Any family wishing to sponsor a family reunion weekend at CFL should contact the center at (910) 328-1584 or by e-mail at cflcenter@charterinternet.com. Eight weekends in 2005 are currently available, and the center will begin booking 2006 dates on Jan. 18, 2005.)

The Catholic Young Adults from the Diocese of Raleigh and the Holy Cross Youth Group from Kernsville, NC, spent time at the center in October painting and performing other volunteer activities.

CFL People
Ryan Morris turned 18 on Oct. 22.

Sue and Jim Rider conducted a family workshop for NAMI in New Bern, NC from Oct. 22 to 24.

Please pray for . . .
Joyce O’Toole and her continued recovery from surgery.

The repose of the soul of Patricia DeBerri, mother of CFL director Ed DeBerri, who died on Oct. 10.

(Please submit items about CFL people and Please pray for to the center at (910) 328-1584 or by e-mail at cflcenter@charterinternet.com.)

High Tidings is edited by Ed DeBerri, CFL Center director.
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