Time with Away

Once a year my sweet husband has to go somewhere to attend continuing education. 

We figured out 8 years ago that this is a much better trip for him if I tag along.  We’ve gone to lots of places. 

Arizona

Hilton Head

but my favorite

is the Outer Banks, NC

One of the reasons that we do this every year is we were VERY young when we married and we didn’t take much of a honeymoon. 

These trips are our on going honeymoon.  I love being able to spend several days just hanging out together.  We plan, dream, relax and just enjoy being together.  This may not be possible every year but I am so thankful that God has blessed us with another trip this year.

When Life Falls Apart

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

 

Some days I just wonder what I am supposed to be doing as I live this life of mine.  Sometimes I think I have it figured out .  I should never think that.  If I think that then it seems the next instant things change and what I was just doing is no longer what I need to be doing.

10 days ago my world shifted and things are no longer as they were.  If I am not posting on here as much it is because I have been handed a new situation to understand and work through. 

I am praising God for the above verse today.  Even NOT knowing or even having a small inkling of what wisdom I am going to need in the future, I can KNOW exactly what God’s will is for me.

REJOICE ALWAYS  As if rejoicing wasn’t hard enough, but to do it always.  I am not a rejoicer.  I tend to be grumpy in the mornings, moody at noon & something different the rest of the day.  There are so many things I am thankful for in this life I live.  But rejoicing?  Still working on that one.  Always?  Yep that is a work in progress.  I find it very interesting that rejoicing comes even before praying.  Maybe it is a challenge to do the hardest things first.  I tell my kids that a lot.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING Okay this one isn’t so hard.  I do a lot of praying.  As I do dishes, as I mow, as I look for the answer to some problem.  I am so glad that I can take every single worry or care that I have to the ONE who can handle it.  Even when life falls apart.  He is there to hold me up.  Even when the anchors that I have known all my life shift, He doesn’t.  I find such peace and reassurance in that fact alone.

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES I am thankful.  I know that my whole life and everything in it belong to God.  Jesus saved me and I know that he holds my past, present & future in his hand.  The reality is that some circumstances are beyond difficult.  How do I thank him for that?  I try to find the lesson that is in it for me to learn.  I pray that my eyes are open to the growing he wants me to do.  I don’t have to like it but I am trying . . . attempting to be thankful that he loves me enough to mold me and shape me in to the woman he wants me to be.

This is straight from the heart.  Many of our families adventures are fun.  Many are silly.  This one is not.  I may be able to share more later but if not I will be here trying to walk this path that is in front of me.

At the beach

Things I am/am not doing this week

I am not . . . .

10.  Wearing shoes.  If you know me I pretty much wear my sandals or tennis shoes 24/7.  I hate walking on grit & often on our hard wood there is grit.  But this week my sandals are in a corner unless we run to the grocery store because it is the last time I will get to go barefoot comfortably this year.

9.  Doing dishes.  We are staying in a house where there are lots of dishes & pans to cook in.  So well the dishes are sitting in the sink or by the sink for several meals before someone does them.

8.  Watching my kids.  I love them.  They are with me 24/7 at home.  We do everything together.  School, meals, chores etc.  But one time a year my hubby steals me away for a week alone.  We leave them in good hands(Thank God for Grandma’s).

7.  Coupon shopping.  Nope didn’t even bring them with me.

I am . . . .

6.  Reading.  My sister loaned me her Kindle and I’ve been loading free books on my iphone for a few weeks.

5.  Sitting.  It feels like loafing but I prefer to think of it as recharging my batteries.

4.  Watching.  I love the ocean and I could just watch the waves for hours.

3.  Walking.  Steve & I enjoy walking the beach and looking at little crabs, shells, waves, people etc.  Of course we are barefoot.

2.  Scrapbooking.  Sounds weird doesn’t it?  Well Steve is in class for 3 days of our week away.  So I get to work on a project that hardly ever gets touched at home.  Love that Southwest lets you bring 2 bags for free.

1.  Planning for the year.  It isn’t all fun & relaxing.  Steve & I have found if we relax a couple of days it allows us to then turn our eyes to the future and what God is perhaps asking us to do for the next year.  This can be the most exciting part of the trip as we talk & dream.

Do you ever get to run away with your hubby?  Where do you go and what do(or not do) you do there?