Missing This...

It's never easy to come home from a week of vacation.  Especially when it's been a good one!  We've had a wonderful week away with my family, nestled in the Wisconsin hills at our Church's retreat center.  The Lord gave us amazing weather every single day and we truly had such a relaxing time together.  It's been a week of roller-coaster emotions however.  When we left last weekend, we were heading out on frazzled nerves and the expectation of hard news.  Our Grandpa's health took a nose dive right before we left and within hours we were saying goodbye, having much needed conversations, and reconciling some hard things from the last 10 years.  I can't even begin to process all that transpired and how the Lord has been working in and through all of it.  He has been very, very gracious to us and in his kindness, He gave us some incredibly timely conversations with our Grandpa.  Right now, his health has gotten a little better but he is still teetering on life and death.  For now, we've been given more time with him and we are very, very grateful. 

So, to say this vacation was needed, is an understatement.  The normal grind of life and work and school and church left all of us hungry to get away, but with the added emotions of my Grandpa's failing health, it was a gift from the Lord that we were able to spend the week together, off the grid, so to speak.  We had 5 days in Wisconsin and a couple days in Minnesota together, but today we've all gone our separate ways and are slowly integrating back to reality.  And that part stinks.  It's hard to leave the fun and sun behind, hard to say good-bye to family and hard to go back to being hundreds of miles apart.  I was telling my friend yesterday that this is when I start waxing philosophically about Heaven and how I long for it more and more as I get older and as I grasp a better understanding of what awaits us.  But today, I'm praising God for the memories we made this week and the glimpses of His glory and Sovereignty we experienced. He is the author of life and death the true source of our joy and peace.

And He is good...

All the time.

 We are missing the pool today!!  And all of our undivided family time together.  Today is really the start of our wild, jam packed summer.  Life gets very, very busy for Travis now so I'm taking this day to ask the Lord to help me transition to our summer schedule with JOY and excitement, having just experienced a week of rest and time together. 

 Our kids were in 7th Heaven this week!  They got so much play time and had the attention of their aunts, uncles and grandparents all day, every day so you can imagine that they LOVED it!!

 We marveled at how big they seemed this year and at how much they were able to do with us.  I adore them in their little sun hats and suits.  I love summer and I'm so glad it's here!!  As is no surprise, we have over 1,000 pictures between all of us, isn't that crazy???  I've looked at every single one today and I'm so happy we have them. 

I've got lots of posts to do this week, so get ready for an onslaught of photos :)

We had a great vacation and enjoyed the break from "life" it afforded us.  Today is a bittersweet day, but all part of the process of being gone and returning home again.  The kids and I stayed home from Church this morning as we are nursing some sore throats, runny noses and a need for more sleep!  I've got laundry to keep me busy, a house to put back together again, grad parties to go to and Trav has a meeting for summer camp tonight.  Ready or not, here we go!! 

Wishing you a blessed start to your summer and a day to "be still and know that He is God."  I'm sipping my second cup of coffee and enjoying the sounds of worship music filling our home.  Tomorrow I think I'll be ready to say that it's good to be home again, but today, I'm still missing what was a very fun week away. 

Happy Summer, friends!!