Back from a wonderful trip away. It doesn't really feel like I was away at all in some ways as life doesn't stop! But the kids survived and all of them did really well! I'm so bad at posting pictures, but will try to get a few up later. My sisters have the best ones on their cameras. All I know is memories were created, tons of laughs were had and relationships were deepened. Talk of making this event into an annual trip did come up! I wish!
I got a phone call from a friend last night that her step-mom had died suddenly of a heart attack in her mid 60s. It was yet another reminder to me how blessed we as sisters (and sister-in-law) are to have my mom around and to be able to get away together. We know things can change from one day to the next in any of our lives.
The week before I went away I had heard a talk on enjoying God's gifts to us. He does long to bless us, but sometimes we reject His blessings as a way of appearing more "religious" or pious. This trip away was such a blessing to me. I didn't cook or clean for nearly 5 days. I had my feet up a lot of the time! My husband allowed me some spending money which felt like an extravagance. My parents also were extremely generous all throughout the trip. Yet guilt, lingered in the background wanting to take away my joy. I could almost hear the voices in my head, "This costs too much money. You really shouldn't be here." I know I could have easily ruined my whole trip if I had kept listening to that voice. What I ended up doing was focusing on accepting the time away as a blessing from the Lord. As soon as I did that my mind actually started filling up with worship songs. One in particular, by the Gettys was in my head almost from the moment I arrived, "My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness". It was perfect. It summed up all that I was feeling. Yes, I didn't deserve this trip. But it was a gift to me, to all of us, from the Lord. He had worked all of our schedules out. He had put it on my parents' hearts to make it happen no matter what. Each husband, each child, never begrudged us the time away and resolved to not only make it happen, but to help out 100% while we were all gone. That is no easy task as we left behind 18 children between the 3 of us and 5 husbands who all work full-time!
None of us have ever done anything like this in our whole lives and it was such a blessing to get away, to be together. The conversations that were had, the meaningful ones as well as the hilarious ones, were precious. We also celebrated my mom's 76th birthday while we were away and my older sister's birthday, too - even that was symbolic that we were able to acknowledge years passing and yet be able to be together to celebrate them. I think it helped our children to understand how key a mom is to the family dynamics (oh perfect! Just in time for mother's day!). It helped our husbands appreciate all that we bring to the family. It made us as wives miss our children so much and realize how much we appreciate our husbands, too.
All this to say, I'm so grateful to the Lord, to my parents, for this tremendous blessing. When I got home I knew it was going to be hard, back to cooking and cleaning, but I've definitely been able to do it all with a lighter spring in my step. It was definitely a "recharge" to my mom batteries! I think my favourite comment from my children upon returning home was, "It was a lot quieter when you were gone!" Ha! I think that's great! I bring noise and volume to our house! I also heard, "I didn't realize how much I was going to miss you!" Yeah! I'll go away again any day to help my kids realize they need me!
Now I have a kitchen to clean ahead of me, laundry to put away and lots of rooms to tidy, but I can do it, by the grace of God. Perhaps I'm not on a beach anymore or lying by a pool, but being away helped me realize what a blessing home is. In my mind now, it is my job to create relationships within our home that will one day be so strong that will long to always be together. The trip away helped me forward think within my own home. Wasn't it just a trip to a beach? Absolutely and I loved that, trust me!!!! But I also loved that it was about so much more than that. It was a trip away to celebrate sisters, a new sister-in-law and our mom.... all blessings from above. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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