I have this problem. You see, when we are in an area I feel like we absolutely have to do everything scenic, beautiful, fun, exciting, and adventurous within 20 miles. Its ridiculous, but nevertheless, I feel that way.
We are hanging out in Portland, Oregon for the week (9 days to be exact) and I have this GIGANTIC list of things to see, museums to visit, food to eat, Amazon supplies to order, stuff to fix, and people to meet up with. So far we’ve crossed a few things off the list, but I’m finding that mostly cities make us…
TIRED.
Yes. Tired. All that running around gets to a person. I kind of want to go sit in the hammock and read a book. Only there’s no place to hang my hammock in our concrete city RV parking lot. Such a shame.
So, while there are still definites on our to-do list while we are here, I’m thinking we might need to just sit by the pool for an afternoon and just relax.
We had a great day. It consisted of no babysitter, not really anytime alone, and lots of time spent with our kids. Maybe that would bother some people, but we’ve never been much for anniversary gifts or overly elaborate celebrations (well, except for last year when he bought me an Airstream). We decided earlier this year that instead of celebrating us as a couple, we’d celebrate us as a family.
The kids knew about a week ago that Sam and I wanted to go hiking for our anniversary and then take them out for fish & chips. That’s it. Simple, easy, no fuss. However, it couldn’t be just a simple, easy hike like they were used to. We wanted a LONG one. They were dreading it.
“Too bad,” we said.
“You get to come.”
“It’s our anniversary and we get to pick the activity,” we argued.
We’d recently done a 5 miler up to a glacier and back, so we figured an easy 5 miles with little elevation wouldn’t cause too much whining while still giving us some time on the trails. Thankfully our arguments worked on the kids and we set off on a trail after lunch.
And then our kids hiked 8.5 miles. What we lacked in elevation we more than made up for in distance. If this is any sign of what our future together as a family will look like, it is bright indeed.
The best part? I get to spend it all with him. How lucky can a girl be?
In the movie, “I Bought a Zoo,” Benjamin Mee buys a zoo after his wife dies leaving him with 2 young children to raise. The movie is great (except for the swearing – ouch!) but what really touched me was a conversation Ben has with his son, Dylan about courage. “You know,” Ben says, “Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just, literally, 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”
While applicable to many situations in life, there was one parallel I drew today as I was sitting in Sunday School listening to the lesson about Elisha the prophet, and Naaman the Syrian soldier.
Let me interject here really quick that the great thing about our church is that the lessons are coordinated world-wide. What we are studying in California is the same exact lesson the saints in Cambodia are also learning. The occasional downside is that someone gets off their schedule and we get a repeat lesson. This happened today and at first I was not excited, but decided I’d try and pay attention and learn something new, or look at the story in a different way.
As the teacher shared the video I’ve posted below, one thing in particular stuck out to me: the incredible bravery of the young maid who spoke up. She was alone in a country that wasn’t hers, serving a people with different beliefs, and probably fairly disheartened. When she heard her master and his wife struggling with the leprosy Naaman had, she had the 20 seconds of insane courage to speak up. She said, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.” Not “might” recover him, or “maybe he can help you” but simple faith that simply the prophet can heal.
The blessings that came from that 20 seconds of her insane courage are expressed in 2 Kings 5:15 where Naaman says, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.” What do you want to bet he told everyone when he got back home that there was a prophet in Israel?
Sometimes sharing my beliefs is terrifying. Sometimes I don’t feel like I can speak up, but even if my words, ideas or beliefs only turn someone’s heart towards the direction of God maybe that is enough.
Our planning during our stay in Eureka and our travel north was pretty bad. We had trouble getting reservations at the spot we wanted in Trinidad, and ended up spending two nights at Johnny’s Marina in Eureka. It was a good spot for errands, and the folks were nice.
I wasn’t very bothered by it until we drove up to Clam Beach on Saturday Afternoon for a bike ride and some beach time. As we pulled in, we discovered that there were plenty of RV spots in the small campground right at the beach. We hadn’t tried to stay at the beach for fear of getting a spot, and just drove up for an afternoon and evening.
Realizing suddenly that we could have done things very differently. I got a little grumpy. We could have been staying right there at the beach! No half-hour drives back afterward, and much more of our time could have been spent at the beach. It ended up being warmer than we had expected, and we could have easily changed our clothes, if we had brought the Airstream!
During our bike ride, I got over it. (Jess had been expecting I would, and was glad when I quit complaining.) I came around to realize that our situation was far from dismal. Rather than spending time bemoaning a slightly less than perfect situation, I should just relax and enjoy the bike ride. And the blackberries that grew alongside the bike trail. And frisbee on the beach. And I did. I got over it, and we had a great evening.
The pursuit of perfect was ruining a perfectly good day. We try and avoid locking our schedule down too tight, which allows us to change it for the better when opportunity allows and something strikes our fancy. On the flip side, some days are not ideal. I need to accept the bad with the good, knowing that we are living an amazing adventure.
On the way out of the beach, I caught a glimpse of the campground. It had filled a bit, with some colorful characters that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable with my kids around. I really didn’t mind our drive home, and I’ve resolved to handle my next ‘Good’ situation with more grace and less complaining.
Rachel really struggles sometimes, so in turn, I struggle too. As an almost 9 year old, she struggles with a lot of things, but tonight it was her position in the family line-up. I wasn’t the oldest. I have an older brother whom I annoyed and emulated to no end. So maybe he could relate to oldest child woes better than I can.
Tonight Rachel got upset over something Sam said to her. What happened wasn’t important, but typically when she gets upset the whole world falls apart. Suddenly she’s not meant to be in the family, or our church is no longer true, or she wishes she were the youngest instead of the oldest.
Most times we just have to tell her to breathe in and out until she can calm down. Sometimes she gets herself back together quickly, sometimes it takes longer.
Its times like these that I just want to hold her and make all the bad go away. I want her to be careless and free and not worried about things like that. She really is growing up and I worry, many times, about my ability to parent her.
Perhaps that’s why I feel like we need this lifestyle right now. I’m forced to get to know her. All of her. Not just the leftovers after she’s home from school and has been independently with her friends all day. I see all the good, all the bad, and everything in between. For that I truly am grateful even when she’s grumpy and won’t look at the camera and all I get is a photo of her pigtails.
