Travel

Here are the things I love about traveling:

1. Eating whatever I want. I am generally healthy and try to eat minimally processed, high fiber, low fat, whole grain, natural foods. Which is good for everyday life, though my kids would beg to differ. However, when I am on a trip, I just eat what sounds good. It's the exception to my rule. And I delight in dinner's of appetizer's, dessert for breakfast and junky fast food drive-thru's.

2. Time away from my plugged in lifestyle. I really enjoy a few days with no computer or really even texting. It's a nice way to clear my head, refocus on God and family, and remind myself that not too long ago, we lived without those emails/texts/blogs/status updates/tweets.

3. Not cleaning. Not thinking about cleaning. Not needing to clean. You get the idea....

4. Living on vacation time. In real life, I never go anywhere without my planner. I constantly check my watch to make sure we're running "on schedule". In my job, everything runs around the clock. Sessions starting on the hour, ending at 10 till (or too often, ending at 3 after. Still learning to get better at ending on time) But while on vacation- I can sleep till I want to get up. Eat when I'm hungry. Go to bed when I want. Linger over coffee longer than usual. Chit chat till some ridiculous hour of the night and not worry about being exhausted for work the next day. (I think it will be like that in heaven, by the way. Once we're in eternity, why would you ever be rushed or feel hurried?)

5. Reconnecting with people I love. I generally travel for or to see family. Occasionally, we take a trip for Scott's ministry conference, or I travel with Branches to St. Augustine once a year. But most of the time, I'm getting to see and spend time with family. My family is spread out all over: Ohio, Florida, Georgia and I'm in Tennessee. So when I have the chance to see them, it's rare and I really feel blessed to catch up on life together. If I were better at staying in touch long distance that would be easier- but I'm not.

Tomorrow morning, I'll pack my suitcase, load my car with lots of goodies and head to Gatlinburg for a weekend with mom and my two sisters. It's been a few years since we last did a weekend away, and we gave this weekend as a gift to my mom last Mother's Day. So, I'm sure I'll have a fun picture or two to post when I return. Along with a bunch of treasured memories, some dirty laundry, an emptier checkbook and a very satisfied tummy.

Chef Hat

Tonight's discussion at the dinner table ranged from: 1. why boys get mad at girl's during kickball and yell at them for ducking instead of catching the ball (Emma had a tough day in gym class), to 2. what the Holocaust was, why people listened to Hitler in the first place and why they were called Concentration Camps, then on to 3. Dad's favorite Teddy Roosevelt speech, which he looked up on-line and read aloud, and finally 4. since mom cooked a nice dinner or chicken parmesean and ceaser salad, the other family members would be cleaning the dishes (much to the annoyance of the middle child).

"Family Dinner Time" is a hill I intend to camp out and die on if necessary, to keep it priority for our family. Sound dramatic? I agree, but when you are coming against a million reasons and obstacles why we cannot all find 45 minutes to sit and eat together it requires some emphatic response on my part. When my kids were all little's it was easier: I planned dinner, they all showed up and we sat down to eat. Currently, I work two nights a week, the oldest is gone one night for youth, we have a community group 2 thursday nights a month and weekends are a free-for-all of people coming and going. All this has led me at times to feel like throwing in the towel and abandoning the goal, but then we sit down to eat and something semi-magical happens. (Do not start with me about the word magical. It's a loose term) Anyway, someone will say "pass the salt", and then someone else will say "why do you always put tomatoes in perfectly good casserolle's- it ruins them" and then the other children will agree and begin to affirm the truth of tomatoes ruining dinner, and then I will launch into some information on nutrition which is usually interrupted by the bodily function of a teenager, which causes the husband and children to all laugh, then after getting "the look" from me the husband will instruct the teenager on manners at the dinner table, which will then lead into other conversations and before they have time to realize it, the children are all conversing with each other and us. There are just too many moments we'd miss if I didn't fight to preserve family dinner time.

So, fight I do and I don't fight fair. I'm competing with TV, internet, cell phones, and other distractions that require I stack the odds in my favor. I cook my family's favorite meals; I put flowers and placemats and cute holiday decorations on the table; I light candles; I make desserts (sometimes). Also, equally important, I insist on it 3 nights a week.

There are some traditions we can let slip quietly into the night, because they really didn't serve a meaningful purpose. But family dinner time is not one of them. I'd love to hear your ideas on how to make family dinner time fun and positive- especially if you have teenagers! I need all the ammo I can get.

Patience

So sometimes when you run in to your favorite place to get a baked potato "to go" for lunch and you have clients in 45 minutes, they forget to tell you they just ran out of potato's, so you wait around for awhile until you realize there is defiantly a problem, but by then they assure you your potato "will be right out", and have a free brownie for waiting, and so then ten minutes later when you actually get your potato, you also get a card to come back for a free meal, since, in our world, 21 minutes to wait on a potato is just unacceptable. Meanwhile, the 21 minute wait was an excellent opportunity to observe the following:

1. People are somewhat awkward as they stand around waiting for their "to go" orders.
2. People expect you to be mad about their mistakes.
3. We get mad about people's mistakes.
4. There's never any Splenda in the table sugar caddies when I want it. I had to forage around on 5 different tables to locate some.
5. Consolation brownies are basically better than regular brownies because of the free factor and since you haven't eaten anything yet, you're really hungry, which makes everything taste better.
6. Baked potatoes take a really long time to cook, even in professional grade ovens.
7. If you are kind and gracious to people who have made a mistake it is a chance for them to see the love of God in you, since He is kind and gracious all the time with me and my mistakes.
8. Repeatedly looking at your watch while waiting to make sure they know you are aware of how long this is taking is not necessarily being kind or gracious.
9. If you tell people to have a good afternoon, after you finally receive your baked potato, this is gracious and surprising to the person on the recieving end.
10. It only takes 4 minutes to eat a baked potato if you have clients in 5 minutes.

Rest

Sunday mornings are now a quiet and restful time because we are part of a church that meets on Sunday evenings at 5pm. I wasn't sure how I would like that when we started, but at this point, I'd be really pushing myself to get back to Sunday morning church, although if my church ever goes to Sunday mornings, I'll whine in my head and get on board. So in keeping with the relaxation theme, I'm quoting a beautiful verse that I have come to love more and more as I walk with Jesus:

Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. (Mt. 11:28-29)


Resting in Jesus does not mean we are always lounging around in pajama's and swinging in hammocks with a glass of sweet tea (although, this sounds quite nice and perhaps I will spend a good bit of time in heaven doing that very thing). It does mean we get to quit striving. No more trying to earn love or acceptance, no more trying to impress others, no more trying to prove you have worth by racking up a great career, or perfect yard or perfect kids. And once we quit all that striving, well, a lot of times the meaningless busyness goes away with it. As a mom, a lot of my frantic activity of earlier years had to do with getting people to like me or be impressed with me. Perfect birthday parties for my boys, that I nearly killed myself "throwing together". Housework at all hours of the night so my home always looked picture perfect. Reading lots of parenting magazines so I would already know what the right or wrong car seat, toy, nutrition was- before anyone had to tell me. Attending every single church related event, so people would know I was involved and cared about them. (Exhausting)

When I began to understand resting in Jesus, lots of this nonsense evaporated. I'd love to say all of it, but that's not true. I still sometimes overcommit to make sure people will like me. At least now I see it and take all that to Jesus so I can lay it back down. It's a process, learning to rest in total love and acceptance. I do find that mostly my activity is purposeful now. That I am able to say no to things that do not serve my family or me well, and yes to things that are living out my mission to make Jesus famous. And blissfully, I actually have the ability to sit on a beautiful Sunday and enjoy this life that Jesus died to give me. (Refreshing)

Off to refill my coffee and hug on my early morning riser and prepare a yummy Sunday lunch. Hope you all find some rest today as well.