by Dr. Steve Cappa, Clinical Director

We can’t believe it! It's spring of 2003 and we keep reminding each other, with pinches, that we are moving to Marble, Colorado in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. To call it an honor is not quite strong enough. To call it humbling is a bit more accurate. Since this odyssey began around 5 years ago, we remain, even to this day, in constant awe of God’s hand in our lives as well as the lives of Louis and Melissa and the entire ministry of Marble Retreat.

We made the acquaintance of Louis and Melissa about 6 years ago through a mutual friend. Our first association with Marble Retreat came via an invitation, 5 years ago, to spend 4 days with the Louis and Melissa, to hear the story of Marble Retreat and find out what they do therapeutically with the wonderful but hurting and wounded folks that come for care. That wonderful time was followed by an invitation to attend and participate in a 2-week training with them resulting in our becoming Marble Fellows. Since then, we have been privileged to conduct retreats once or twice a year, as our already busy schedules allowed. To be sure, as anyone who’s ever visited the beautiful campus at Marble Retreat, we quietly held our own fantasies of living up in the mountains, much like one does when vacationing. Little did we know that those quiet fantasies would become a dream, which would then find a voice and, ultimately a path and plan of its own!

About a year ago, we received a letter in the mail from Marble Retreat inviting us to consider and be considered for succession to Louis and Melissa as they pondered their retirement years. With some casual interest in what God might do with such an invitation, we “threw our hats into the ring” and continued on with our lives, which included a few more visits to Marble Retreat as Fellows. There was never any discussion of this possibility so we assumed that some other plan had occurred and that we’d gladly continue our role as Fellows. That was all to dramatically change!

Last October, under the guise of Melissa hearing Anne Graham Lotz speak at an annual Christian Women’s Conference in Denver, Louis and Melissa invited themselves to our home, “to visit.” Steve was in the middle of installing tiles in our bathroom floors (he loves to do house projects!) as part of our home remodeling plan, when Louis and Melissa arrived. They sat down and proceeded to inform us that they, along with they Board of Directors, had prayerfully decided to extend to us the awesome invitation to succeed them as co-directors of Marble Retreat! To say the least, we were instantly humbled and overwhelmed (this hasn’t changed much since this meeting).

God has blessed us for the past 8 years with lives of great abundance. Patti’s work as a clinical supervisor for a wonderful team of clinicians caring for the persistently mentally ill has been highly fulfilling. Steve’s tenured position as a counseling professor at Denver Seminary has left him in a place of great fulfillment and constant growth. Our three sons were well entrenched in their schools and their social lives. To be sure, none of us was restless nor unhappy and never entertained plans of leaving or doing something different for Him. This all changed following the McBurney’s October visit! Of course, in hindsight, we are absolutely convinced that this visit was merely a culmination of God preparing us for a time such as this. The recent Board of Directors meeting near Austin, Texas (Summers Mill Retreat and Conference Center: www.summersmill.com) made it abundantly clear to us that our journey thus far had made us a good match for the ministry at Marble Retreat.

We began our courtship working together some 22 years ago and it was always our dream to do so again. Steve completed his doctorate from Rosemead School of Psychology in 1994 allowing Patti to begin the Masters Program in Psychology from California State University at Chico. All the while we’re in school, we were bringing our sons into the world, supplanting our student economy by operating a home-based daycare, rebuilding relationships with extended family and getting much needed clinical experience. While teaching in the Psychology Department of Simpson College, Steve accepted a position of Associate Professor at Denver Seminary, his alma mater, in 1995. He has been training students for the ministry of counseling ever since.

Moreover, he has also been very busy in his own counseling practice, focusing largely on the issues confronting and surrounding evangelical males, a specialty of his. He’s served faithfully as a Deacon in our church, occasionally preaches and he’s even found time to help coach soccer, baseball, take up flyfishing, refinish our basement and, most importantly, pursue his passion as an auto racing buff and general car and motorcycle hobbyist.

After completing her degree in psychology and moving to Colorado, Patti remembers sending out countless resumes and praying that God would provide her an opportunity to use her new skills, sitting with people and their pain in hopes of helping them. After a few months, she was given that opportunity with a job working with people suffering from addictions, particularly women, teens and their families. After more than a year she was offered a job with a local community mental health where she began working with children and their families, many referrals from social services and schools. Two years later she began working with dear folks suffering from various chronic mental illnesses. She, too, established a small private practice, working with many couples, children and families. In her years with community mental health, she has rapidly advanced to a supervisory level and, as mentioned previously, now supervises a team of excellent clinicians. To say the least, God richly answered her prayer of 8 years ago!

Another dream that we have always shared is the desire to live in the mountains. In our early years of marriage, we used to draw log home floor plans! We love to hike, fly fish and cross country ski. Visiting the rugged backcountry of the Rocky Mountains via a four-wheel drive vehicle is also great fun. As previously mentioned, Steve is a self-described incurable “motor head”. If it has an engine, he’s interested. Patti prefers the quiet (though a nice running car is greatly appreciated) and is looking forward to resuming some water coloring that has been set aside for mothering, career, etc. She wants to get back to an old love of bird watching as well.

We are blessed with 3 sons who we greatly love, who continue to challenge us and who made our lives very full and complete. Matt is 18, Will is 16 in April, and Davey is 12. The change from a city life to a rural/wilderness one will be stretching for us all, especially the boys.

We are looking forward to the transition to Marble Retreat, working more fully with the wonderful yet wounded servants of God, who will continue to come seeking restoration and understanding in their lives and continued service to Him. We also look forward to hearing from all of you! Your wishes, thoughts and ideas about Marble Retreat are greatly welcomed. Please join us all (the McBurneys, the Board of Directors, the Staff of Marble Retreat, the Cappas) in praying for this transition grounded in God’s desires. As you all know, this is a wonderful ministry that has served and will continue to serve those that serve. We have had the great and humble privilege of witnessing God touch the wounded and bring comfort to His people. We look forward to participating in this kingdom work more fully and, to say the least, we remain grateful and humble that we are able to make it a full-time endeavor with Marble Retreat.