Prayer – Serenity Retreat

When God Gives More Than We Are Expecting

Written by Barbara Rolen on July 2, 2026. Posted in Hospitality, Prayer, Prayer Ministers, Prayer Session, Serenity Retreat, Serenity Retreat Center, Transformation Prayer. No Comments on When God Gives More Than We Are Expecting

What Happened When I Came to Serve—and Found Myself Set Free

About 12 years ago, I was introduced to TPM through a training in Fort Myers with Ed and Josh Smith. Over the years that followed, God continually nudged me back toward this ministry. I read the books (and even had the privilege of helping edit them), but if I’m being honest, I never got very far in applying TPM to my own life.

About three years ago, I knew it was time to fully respond to His invitation. After reaching out to Ed, he directed me to Serenity Retreat for a few TPM sessions by Zoom. The breakthroughs I experienced in just those three sessions were so profound that I immediately enrolled in TPM 101, 201, and 301 (twice!). That journey eventually led to becoming a Mentor in Training and now a Mentor.

Because I live in Florida, my entire TPM journey had taken place over Zoom. Although I had formed deep friendships through a computer screen, it felt like God was inviting me to take another step—to come to Serenity Retreat in person and serve.

My schedule was exactly what I expected: full. Over three days, I would be mentoring and interceding in six sessions. What I didn’t expect was how much I would personally receive during my time there.

The retreat grounds were everything I had imagined—peaceful, beautiful, complete with a stunning lake and even wandering miniature horses that reminded me of home. But what impacted me most weren’t the surroundings. It was the people and the unexpected ways God met me through them.

In a way only God could orchestrate, my rental management business took an absolutely crazy turn just one hour before my very first in-person mentoring session. Feeling overwhelmed and triggered, my friend Barbara gently asked, “How does that make you feel?”

And just like that, we were off.

The Lord graciously revealed a vow I had made years earlier—one I wasn’t even consciously aware of. As a younger version of myself, I had determined that I would always fight so I wouldn’t be taken advantage of. Within minutes, an incredible session unfolded. God replaced old beliefs with His truth, and I walked into my very first mentoring session with greater freedom and a God-given love for the Mentee than I could have imagined.

A couple of evenings later, while having dinner with another Mentor staying at the retreat center, I found myself unexpectedly triggered again. As she shared about the joy and peace she had found in her marriage—even though her husband hadn’t changed one bit—I realized I was feeling anger toward her.

One of the beautiful gifts of TPM is having relationships where you can honestly say, “I’m feeling angry toward you,” knowing that it’s simply the starting point for discovering what God wants to reveal. Through another beautiful session, the Lord uncovered deeper beliefs about my own marriage—areas where I genuinely thought He had already finished His work.

Apparently, He wasn’t finished yet.

On my last full day in Bellville, I was blessed once again by attending my first in-person Community Chat. What a difference it makes to gather around a table, share a meal, and simply be together. Learning while eating, laughing, and sharing life was a completely different experience than gathering over Zoom.

I was deeply touched by the conversations that unfolded so naturally as we shared what God was doing in our own lives and encouraged one another in the work of mentoring. Together, we discussed how to better walk alongside those seeking freedom, so they, too, could encounter His truth and experience the life-changing freedom that comes from believing it.

Before coming to Serenity Retreat, I assumed I was there primarily to give—to mentor, to pray, and to serve others. While that certainly happened, God also lovingly served me.

I don’t believe it’s necessary to have your own sessions while serving at the Retreat Center. But I do believe God delights in arranging just the right circumstances to uncover deeply buried beliefs—not to make us uncomfortable, but to set us free.

That’s exactly what He did for me.

Scripture tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I discovered something else as well: when God allows us to do both at the same time, it’s an incredible gift.

Thank you, Serenity Retreat, for allowing me to serve—and for serving me through His love and His Truth.

Honoring & Caring Well: A Community Chat at the Waltons’

Written by Barbara Rolen on July 2, 2026. Posted in Hospitality, Prayer, Prayer Ministers, Transformation Prayer Training, Transformation Prayer Training. No Comments on Honoring & Caring Well: A Community Chat at the Waltons’

The Community Chats that began last year at restaurants around the greater Houston area have been so refreshing. It’s wonderful to hug a fellow prayer minister who we usually see in a Zoom window or whom we miss out on seeing in Bellville because we’re serving on different days. It’s special to have discussions in person as we refine our mentoring skills.

However, there’s something different about sitting around a table in someone’s home — and then in their living room — that moves the conversation in a more intimate and vulnerable direction. That’s what the group — Daniela Barrett, Taylor Gahm, Kim Grant, Marnie Paffenroth, Carol Schwartz, Kathy Walton, and myself — experienced on the afternoon of June 26 as we gathered at Kathy and Scott Walton’s house in Bellville for our first summer Community Chat.

We started with lunch and table conversation, then moved into the den, where Daniela led us in a sweet, rich time of worship, including one of her own compositions. There’s a particular kind of hush that settles over a room full of prayer ministers when the singing starts — and that afternoon was no exception. None of us wanted it to end!

Carol Schwartz, a new core team member, led the group in a discussion of Honoring & Caring Well by Providing TPM With Excellence. And her core message was disarmingly simple:

“The most loving thing we can offer a mentee is to stay out of God’s way.”

Less Us, More Jesus

Carol reminded us of something foundational to everything we do — Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. Transformation comes through His revelation, not through our insight, our wisdom, or our intervention.

“Our role is to serve the mentee well enough in the process that Jesus has room to do what only He can do.”

Our job, she said, is actually less than we think it is — and more restful than we make it.

She was honest about where we drift, and why. Most of us don’t drift because we’re careless. We drift because we care. When a mentee struggles, something in us wants to help. We feel their discomfort. We think we see the path forward. We want the session to move.

That impulse isn’t wrong. But inside a TPM session, acting on it can shift a mentee’s focus from hearing Jesus to hearing us.

So what does excellence actually look like? Not perfection. It looks like staying anchored to the process, and knowing what to do when we feel lost, which we got good tips for.

Taylor put words to it in a way that stuck with the room. When asked what this looks like in practice, he said simply that it starts with being “faith-filled and doing his best”. We all agreed that we need to learn to “be present” and be “comfortable with quiet”. Two great reminders are there is “nowhere to get” and the guest in front of us was already walking with Jesus before they ever came to us for help. It’s a good reset. The mentee’s relationship with Jesus doesn’t typically start in the session, and it doesn’t depend on us.

Refining Our Skills Together

From there, we addressed a question that had been submitted in advance about how to handle a Solution Within a Solution. Everyone got to practice recognizing the solutions and how to maneuver from one solution to the next one. By the end, the prayer ministers felt more equipped to recognize and manage this dynamic better in future sessions.

An Answered Prayer, in Her Own Home

This kind of gathering means something a little extra this summer, since one of our own traveled a long way to be part of it. Marnie Paffenroth, one of our prayer ministers based in Florida, flew in for a full week of serving alongside us — which meant she got to trade Zoom squares for actual faces and actual hugs with ministers she’d only ever met on a screen. (You can read more about her week in her own words on serenityretreat.com.)

Kathy, our host for the afternoon, shared her reflections of the gathering in her own home:

“My aha was more Jesus, less me. So many times I just want to ‘say’ something and I realized that is often ‘me’ wanting to be heard and often could be interfering with what Jesus is doing. Love the vision of Jesus being so big in the room and me being so little.

It was an answered prayer to be in community together. I have been praying to be a part of an honest, authentic, not afraid of truth, loving community. Thank you, Lord.

Hosting is also an answered prayer. This is God’s house so any time it can be used to grow and benefit His kingdom — I get super excited. Hearing the praise echo through the walls where I live — ain’t nothing like it! So grateful!!!” ❤️

What Stays with Us

Carol closed the afternoon with a line that’s easy to remember and hard to fully live out:

“We are exceptional prayer ministers. And the most exceptional thing we can do is get out of the way and let Jesus be Jesus.”

That’s the heartbeat of what we’re all learning together — not to fix, not to lead, but to make room. And afternoons like this one, around the Waltons’ table, remind us we’re not learning it alone.

What’s Next?

Whether we gather in a home or at a restaurant, a Community Chat will be coming your direction this summer — Sugar Land/Richmond area, Houston, possibly Spring, and of course on Zoom for our prayer ministers out of state and out of the country. If anyone would like to open up their home for the next chat, contact me at [email protected].

And this fall we’ll be back at the Waltons’ home in Bellville. She said we are welcome anytime, so we’re taking her up on it.

A Nation at 250, A Remnant at 25

Written by Tiffany Pardue on July 1, 2026. Posted in Prayer, Serenity Blog.

250th Anniversary, America, be still, come and see, gospel, healing, hope, Prayer, Remnant, Serenity Retreat, transformation, Transformation Prayer Ministry, USA

by Tiffany Pardue, Retreats Director

I can’t help but see the math.

250 years since Independence Hall. 250 candles on a cake none of us were there to watch being lit, one by one. And somewhere in the middle of the fireworks and flags this year, a quieter number kept surfacing in me.

25.

This fall, Serenity Retreat turns 26. A tithe of our nation’s history, given back to the One who gave it. One-tenth. It felt too specific to ignore.

So I did what I tend to do when a number won’t leave me alone—I went looking for what it means.

Here’s what I found, and it spoke to me: British historian Sir John Glubb spent his later years studying roughly a dozen empires—Assyrian, Roman, Ottoman, British among them—and found that most lasted around 250 years, or ten generations, before the weight of their own success caught up with them. He traced a shape to it: Pioneers, then Conquest, then Commerce, then Affluence, then Intellect, then Decadence—that last stage marked less by weakness than by wealth without character, spectacle replacing conviction, and a fraying willingness to sacrifice for something bigger than ourselves. Historians still argue over whether Glubb’s pattern is destiny or coincidence. I don’t need it to be either. I just need to ask what it’s pointing at.

We are standing on it.

Not behind it, looking back at what was. Not past it, coasting on what’s certain. On it. The precipice. The place where a nation either becomes the exception or becomes a paragraph in someone else’s history book.

I don’t say that to alarm. I say it because I believe the Lord puts numbers like this in front of us—250, 25 to 26, one-tenth—not necessarily as omens or prophecy, but as an invitation to ask of Him.

What is required of us now? As a nation. As the people of God living inside it. As individuals kneeling in our own kitchens at 6 am or/and midnight, wondering if our prayers are doing anything at all.

I’m not sure how much the answer changes much from age to age. It rarely does. Though that doesn’t mean His response—His Word isn’t still all we ever need.

“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” —2 Chronicles 7:14

Humble. Pray. Seek. Turn. Four verbs standing between a nation and its healing, and not one of them requires an election, a headline, or anyone else’s cooperation. They only require us.

The Lord has never needed a majority to move a nation. Scripture is a long, quiet argument for the power of the remnant—the few who actually listen, actually agree, actually worship Him in spirit and truth while everyone else argues about who’s right. Gideon’s army was cut down to three hundred before God would use it. Elijah, certain he was the last faithful man standing, was told there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee. He just couldn’t see them yet.

Is that still true?

I wonder if the remnant God is gathering right now looks less like a movement and more like scattered rooms—retreat centers and living rooms, houses of prayer and prayer closets—full of people finally still enough to hear Him.

I keep coming back to that tithe. One-tenth of a nation’s life, and Serenity has spent every year of it doing one thing: making space for people to reconnect and realign with the truth of God. Twenty-five years of retreats, prayer sessions, tears at the pond, walking the land, freedom that didn’t show up in a headline but showed up in a marriage, a mother, a father, a mind finally quiet enough to hear its Maker.

If a remnant is what heals a land, I believe Serenity and Transformation Prayer Ministry are positioned for exactly this hour—not just for our nation, but for the nations beyond her, who are watching what America does with what she’s been given. No other nation in history has been used to carry the gospel further or faster than this one. That is not a boast about us. It’s a stewardship placed on us. We have been blessed to be a blessing—that’s true of America, and it has always been true of this ministry.

Which is part of why I’m asking you to pray with us in a very specific way right now.

Serenity’s Board and staff are in the process of discerning our next Executive Director—the one who will carry the mantle into whatever this unprecedented next chapter holds. We don’t know everything that’s ahead for this nation. Only God knows that. We don’t know everything that’s ahead for Serenity either. But we know the same God who has carried us for twenty-five years is the one entrusting this next leader to us, and us to them. Please pray over that process with us. It matters more than most people watching from the outside will ever realize.

What is ahead for America? Again, only God knows.

What is ahead for Serenity? We are in the midst of discovering that week by week, confident that He who began the good work will carry it on to completion in Christ Jesus. Otherwise, all I can tell you is what I told you back in February when I was wrestling with the Serenity Prayer and its centennial: we cannot quiet the nations, the news, or the naysayers. We can only quiet our souls, humble ourselves, and let Him do what only He can do.

So this Fourth of July, as you watch whatever fireworks light up your sky, I hope you’ll do a little math of your own. Count the years you’ve been given. Pause and give thanks to our Savior. Count the years this nation has been given. Pause and thank Him again. And then ask the only question that has ever really mattered:

Lord, what do You require of me, in this hour, on this precipice?

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” —Micah 6:8

We are exceedingly blessed to be a blessing. May we spend the next 250 years—and the next 25—responding rightly to the calling and favor of the Lord.

Happy Independence Day, Family of God. We love you, and we’re praying for you as you pray for us.

My favorite spot in one of my favorite places in the world — Serenity Retreat Bellville — a little slice of heaven right here in Texas.

If it’s been a while since your last Transformation Prayer Ministry session or retreat, perhaps it’s time? Click to schedule your One-Hour Session and inquire about a Respite or Personal Healing Retreat today. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer as we search for our next Executive Director and continue to grow our team in preparation for more.

When My Son Was Losing Hope

Written by Tiffany Pardue on June 4, 2026. Posted in Prayer. No Comments on When My Son Was Losing Hope

by David Mitchell

As a dad, there’s not much worse than watching your kid lose hope right in front of you.

My son is 20, and he had gone through some deeply painful experiences. For a time, he didn’t know how to move forward. Like weeds, those wounds were spreading into other areas of his life.

About 25 years ago, a pastor walked me through Transformation Prayer Ministry (TPM), and God has used it to greatly impact my life many times since then.

So when I watched my son struggling recently, I couldn’t help but think: if God could meet me like that, I know He can meet my son like that too.

So I reached out to Ed Smith, the founder of TPM, and asked if he’d meet with my son. He told me he mostly works only with family and close friends these days, but he recommended a specific ministry in Texas.

After talking and praying together as a family, we all felt peace about making the trip. Within two days, I had booked a week at Serenity Retreat Bellville for my son and me, and we had plane tickets to Houston.

We had a plan: four in-person sessions at the retreat center, followed by Zoom sessions once we returned home. It was a great start for him.

By the second or third session, I could already see hope beginning to return. Even though the core beliefs holding him back weren’t fully resolved yet, something had shifted. He had experienced God personally and was beginning to believe that healing was actually possible.

This story is still being written, so I don’t have a final chapter to share yet. But I can honestly say things are moving in the right direction. Hope is returning.

And after all these years, my wife and I are now planning to go through TPM Training with the team at Serenity.

What I experienced with my son wasn’t unfamiliar to me. Over the years, I’ve watched God use TPM to help dozens of people in ways that nothing else seemed able to help.

Emotional wounds from abusive childhoods, sexual assault, toxic relationships, memories from war. People who dealt years with anxiety, shame, rejection, confusion, guilt, feeling tainted, self hate. All set free.

Why does TPM help people so deeply?

I think it’s because it creates space for God to reach the wounded places in a person’s heart with His truth. It’s more than just reminding ourselves what’s true or trying to “think better.” There’s something powerful about God Himself communicating truth into the exact place where pain, fear, shame, and lies have taken root.

God is a genius. He knows how each of us is wired. He understands our stories better than we do. And when we open our hearts to Him, He knows exactly how to help us.

The men in Scripture that I respect most weren’t perfect men. But they were men who had been deeply impacted by God. That’s what I want for my son—not just relief, but a life truly changed by God.

I’m grateful we found a place that creates space for God to speak so that a life can be transformed—even when someone wonders if anything can really help.

Would you like to schedule a Personal Healing Retreat for or with a loved one? Consider Serenity Retreat Bellville — our 26-acre property set apart for time with the Lord. Click here for more information on our individual and group retreat opportunities located just west of Greater Houston. If you’re in the area, email [email protected] to schedule a tour today! “Come and see” — John 1:39.

50 Days Together: From the Empty Tomb to the Upper Room

Written by Tiffany Pardue on June 4, 2026. Posted in Prayer. No Comments on 50 Days Together: From the Empty Tomb to the Upper Room

by Tiffany Pardue, Retreats Director

As we reached the final day of our 50 Day Journey from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost, our hearts were filled with gratitude.

For fifty days, a growing community gathered around Scripture, prayer, and worship with a simple request: “Lord, open our minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Together, we sought to retrace the footsteps of the disciples between the empty tomb and the Upper Room, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal what they may have experienced as Jesus prepared them for the promise to come.

And He answered.

Throughout the journey, participants consistently testified to fresh revelation, renewed faith, and a deeper understanding of God’s Kingdom. Skip reflected, “Christ via His Spirit is opening the Scriptures up to us on the Road to the Upper Room and the Road to His Return.” Kelsey described seeing “darkness turning to light and the scales coming off my eyes” as the Lord illuminated His Word.

The most beautiful gift in this holy season was the experience of walking together with expectation in pursuit of the Lord. Eyrerhonda described discovering “the power of togetherness in Him, being of one accord for one purpose: the Kingdom of God.” She went on to write, “I cannot live life alone, apart from His children, regardless of our location, culture, or status, because He is the Creator of all.” Her reflections continually returned to the conviction that abiding in Christ and remaining connected to His people is where true fruitfulness is found. As we gathered day after day, the Lord knit hearts together, bringing healing, encouragement, and hope through the fellowship of His people.

Perhaps one of the most moving aspects of this year’s journey was the participation of Mishael, who joined us from Nigeria. In a war-torn region where many believers face hardship and persecution for their faith, his daily reflections reminded us that God’s Kingdom knows no borders. As the journey unfolded, Mishael repeatedly testified that God was meeting him in places of weakness, doubt, pain, and brokenness, revealing afresh that Christ’s Kingdom comes with a peace that truly passes understanding.

Reflecting on what the Lord was teaching him, he wrote, “…my Heart is Reinformed and Repositioned today that in the place of waiting God gives Strength, Direction and one thing that stands out for me is: My God is not weary and insufficient in hope, thoughts and Patience like me, and He never will be weary, And He has been the one sustaining everything so far so good… I just feel like bursting into tears and Praising His Holy and Awesome Name and I’m Grateful for what God is doing to me in the THRESHOLD THE PLACE OF WAITING.“

Mishael’s worship and praise dimmed the intense difficulties of his circumstances, stirring all of our hearts to gratitude, intercession, and deeper revelations of the Kingdom. His vulnerability was a powerful reminder to us that the same risen Christ who restored His devastated disciples to birth the Church is still actively restoring and empowering His followers to share the gospel of the Kingdom today.

The impact of the journey was not confined to those who were present for the daily readings or prayer calls. Participants began noticing the Lord carrying what He was teaching into their homes, workplaces, churches, and relationships. Ella Grace reflected, “This journey, it’s extending out—seeds are being planted in my heart and then I go get in the spheres of influence that God has put me in and they’re released there. It’s wild watching it happen.” The revelation, encouragement, and hunger for fellowship with the Lord and one another that spread through our community was just so sweet—and contagious.

As we followed the disciples from Resurrection to Pentecost, we found ourselves not merely studying their story, but entering into its invitation. We learned to linger in His presence, listen more carefully to His voice, and trust the work He is accomplishing even when it is unseen.

To every person who led, prayed, read, reflected, shared testimony, and journeyed with us—thank you. Your hunger for God enriched this community and strengthened our faith.

I will never be the same.

Most of all, we thank the Lord, who continues to open the Scriptures, reveal His Kingdom, fulfill His Word, and pour out His Spirit. At Pentecost, we did not simply celebrate the completion of a journey. Like the disciples leaving the Upper Room, we’re stepping forward with renewed expectation that the same Spirit who empowered the early Church is still at work in and through us today. May what began as a season of seeking become a lifelong pursuit of His presence, His Word, and His Kingdom for the glory of Jesus’ Name.

“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” —Matthew 6:33

A Soundtrack for the Journey

One unexpected gift of the 50 Days journey was how our worship that continued long after each day’s call ended. Participants shared moments and songs that deepened prayer, reinforced the Scriptures we were studying, and helped carry the themes of the journey into everyday life. Among them were several songs shared by Ella Grace and her father, Eddie—a beautiful reminder that the Lord was stirring hearts across generations as He drew us deeper into His presence. Enjoy!

Father & Daughter Playlist

• All to Bless You — Kory Miller
• The Narrow Way — Steffany Gretzinger
• Wonder (Spontaneous) [Live] — Bethel Music & Amanda Cook
• Take Courage — Kristene DiMarco

**“May His Kingdom come and will be done today in me and in us!” ❤️‍🔥**

For the complete journey from the Empty Tomb to the Upper Room, including all 50 days of readings and reflections, visit https://thekingdomis.life.

SRH Team Spotlight: Living Life on Purpose

Written by Tiffany Pardue on June 3, 2026. Posted in Prayer, Serenity Retreat. No Comments on SRH Team Spotlight: Living Life on Purpose

Lenore Bush, Serenity Retreat Hospitality Team

by Lenore Bush

I feel incredibly blessed to volunteer as part of the Serenity Retreat Hospitality (SRH) Team. A few years ago, while attending a Personal Healing Retreat, Serenity Retreat became a transformational part of my healing journey in ways I never expected.

Originally, I simply wanted to spend a weekend at the Bellville retreat center — a chance to step away from the busyness of life, spend time with God, and connect with friends. I invited a friend who I knew was struggling, believing it would be a meaningful opportunity for her to find rest and healing.

But God had a different plan. He met me there in a deeply personal and life-changing way. During the retreat, I attended several TPM (Transformation Prayer Ministry) sessions, and through those moments, I experienced a breakthrough I didn’t even realize I needed.

The Lord revealed areas of hurt and brokenness I had unknowingly carried for so long. Through the peace and presence of the Holy Spirit, the lies I had been believing began to dissolve, and I was finally able to embrace God’s truth, love, grace, and healing for my life. That encounter changed me. Because of the impact Serenity Retreat had on my heart and spiritual journey, volunteering became my way of giving back and serving a ministry that truly creates space for healing through an encounter with the living God.

To join Lenore and learn more about the upcoming Serenity Retreat Hospitality Team Invitational, please register here. Questions or comments? Email [email protected]. We hope to host you — and host with you soon!