After three days, four states, 10 pregnancy help organizations, and hundreds of miles on the road, I arrived in West Boylston, Mass., for the final part of my journey through the Northeast U.S.: Heartbeat International and the Coalition Leadership Network’s Northeast Retreat.
It was hard to imagine a more fitting conclusion to the week.
In the days leading up to the retreat, I had spent time with leaders across the Northeast listening to their stories, touring their centers, and learning more about both the joys and burdens of pregnancy help ministry in this region. Again and again, I encountered people who were deeply committed to the work, but also carrying a great deal. They spoke of staffing shortages, leadership transitions, difficult cultural environments, family responsibilities, and the daily weight of serving women and families in crisis.
So, when I arrived at our retreat called Rhythms of Rest, I could immediately see how timely the message was.
A message for weary leaders
The retreat speakers, Pastor Pete and Doreen Jansson, brought both wisdom and compassion to our time together. Their story is one of grace, redemption, and second chances. Both Pete and Doreen experienced the loss of a spouse before God brought them together in marriage in 2014, beginning a new chapter of love, family, and ministry.
Pete brings 46 years of pastoral ministry experience, having served as a youth pastor, family life pastor, and later as lead pastor at Harborview Christian Church in Port Jefferson, New York. Doreen has served in ministry roles at Island Christian Church and most recently as CEO of Soundview Pregnancy Services on Long Island. Together, they understand both the beauty and the demands of ministry leadership.
Throughout the retreat, they offered encouragement and practical insight rooted in one simple but powerful truth: resting isn’t laziness; it’s stewardship.
This message felt especially significant in a room full of people who are accustomed to caring for others. In pregnancy help ministry, there is always more to do. There is always another client to support, another staff need to address, another challenge to work through, another burden to carry. It can be difficult to slow down when the needs around us feel so urgent.
But as Pete and Doreen reminded us, Jesus offers us a different way:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
— Matthew 11:28
This retreat invited leaders not only to hear that invitation, but to take it seriously.
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Leading from overflow, not depletion
One of the themes woven throughout the retreat was the need to lead from a place of overflow rather than depletion. We spent time reflecting on where we may be running on empty, what sustainable rhythms might look like in our lives, and how God designed rest not as a reward for finishing everything, but as an essential part of faithful living and leadership.
One line from the participant guide especially stayed with me:
“Your greatest leadership responsibility may not be managing your organization—it may be stewarding the condition of your own soul.”
That is a profound challenge for ministry leaders. We often measure our days by what we have accomplished, solved, or produced. But this retreat gently reminded us that the condition of our own hearts and souls matters too.
One of the most helpful parts of the retreat was that it did not frame rest as an abstract idea. It gave participants time and space to reflect on small, practical rhythms that could be protected or newly established - simple ways to begin living differently, one step at a time.
Creative rest: letting beauty interrupt hurry
One section of the retreat that especially resonated with me was on creative rest.
The participant guide described creative rest as receiving beauty rather than producing and invited us to slow down long enough for wonder to interrupt our hurry and for creation to lead us back to our Creator.
As I reflected during that session, I wrote down a simple but important reminder: God’s beauty is all around us in His creation. I thought about how easy it is to stay at my desk, focused on the next task, the next email, the next responsibility. Yet sometimes what we most need is to get up, step outside, and take a walk, to notice the sun, the fresh air, the birds chirping, the blue sky.
I also found myself thinking about the places where beauty most easily quiets my soul: the ocean, the beach, wind and waves, mountains and lakes, sunrises, and sunsets. These are not merely pleasant extras. They are gifts from God that can draw us out of our hurry and back into awareness of His presence.
That was one of the gifts of the retreat for me personally. It reminded me that rest is not only about stopping; it is also about noticing. Noticing God. Noticing His goodness. Noticing the beauty He has placed all around us. Noticing the ways He refreshes our souls when we slow down enough to receive what He is offering.
In ministry, it can be tempting to make even rest productive. But creative rest calls us to something different. It calls us to receive beauty as a gift.
Strong leaders facing real battles
Another meaningful part of our time together came as we shared prayer requests and prayed for one another.
As different leaders opened up about what was happening in their ministries and personal lives, it became clear that there is a great deal of spiritual warfare taking place across the Northeast. The challenges are not only practical, though there are certainly many of those. There is also a deeper spiritual battle being fought in and around this work.
The Northeast can be a difficult place to lead a pregnancy help ministry. The cultural and political climate is often challenging. Resources can be limited. The needs are significant. And many leaders are carrying ministry burdens alongside personal and family concerns.
Yet what stood out to me most was not simply the weight of what people are facing. It was their strength. These are leaders with grit. They are persistent, resilient, and deeply faithful. They continue showing up, continuing to serve, continuing to trust God, even in difficult circumstances. I saw that same perseverance throughout my center visits earlier in the week, and I saw it again at the retreat.
But this retreat was also a needed reminder that even the strongest leaders need rest. Faithfulness does not mean pushing ourselves endlessly. Sometimes true stewardship means acknowledging our weariness and allowing God to meet us there.
The gift of gathering together
There is also something especially impactful about bringing pregnancy help leaders together in one place.
So much of this work can feel isolating. Many leaders are used to carrying responsibilities quietly and pressing forward without much time to step away. But at the retreat, there was space to breathe, to worship, to pray, to learn, and simply to be together with others who understand the unique joys and burdens of this calling. That gift of shared encouragement is important. Sometimes what strengthens us most is not a new strategy or solution, but the reminder that we are not alone.
Looking around the room - and at the group photo we took together - I was reminded again how valuable it is to gather leaders who spend so much of their lives pouring into others and give them space to be poured into themselves.
Tweet This: In ministry it can be tempting to make even rest productive. But creative rest calls us to something different - To receive beauty as a gift
A fitting end to the journey
As I reflect on the entire Northeast U.S. road trip, I keep coming back to Romans 1:12: “That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
That verse framed this journey for me from the very beginning, and it feels like the right way to conclude it as well.
I set out hoping to encourage pregnancy help leaders across the Northeast. And I do hope that my visits, conversations, and prayers did that in some small way. But once again, I came away incredibly encouraged by them.
I saw faithful leaders serving in hard places. I met people with courage, creativity, and vision. I heard honest accounts of weariness and struggle, but also stories marked by hope and perseverance. And at the retreat, I saw how deeply these leaders need and deserve time to rest, reconnect with the Lord, and be refreshed for the work He has called them to do.
The challenges in the Northeast are real. The spiritual battles are real. The weariness is real. But so is the faithfulness. So is the courage. So is the calling. And so is the God who sustains His people.
To all the leaders I had the privilege of visiting and those who joined us for the retreat: thank you. Thank you for welcoming me, sharing your stories, and faithfully serving the women, men, and families God has placed in your path.
My prayer is that each of you will continue to find strength in the Lord, encouragement in one another, and freedom to embrace the rhythms of rest He has designed for you. Because this work matters. The people you serve matter. And so do you.
Editor's note: Kathy Jerman is Director of Affiliate Service for Heartbeat International. Heatbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
