We spent last weekend at Erik's family's cabin on Mingus Mountain (near the Prescott/Jerome area.) It's a true log cabin on a secluded patch of 40 acres in a canyon of the mountain. Places like that have a way of making you never want to leave. They some how offer both the permission and invitation to imagine your life differently. For me it's a life that is bigger and smaller at the same time. A life that requires an abandonment of everything I thought I needed or was important and an embrace of the things that truly are the stuff of which life is made. When it's 30 degrees outside, there is a fire building in the wood stove and I am reading Farmer Boy to my daughters by the light of lantern, I dare to suggest to myself, "I could get used to this." Among other things, we proved to ourselves we can indeed survive without the constant stimulation of television and computer and that yes, we do in fact like to spend time together. It's not the worst thing in the world to discover you love your family.
The girls had a fabulous time exploring, hiking and enjoying the freedom that comes when their parents can finally relax. In fact, they even stayed "home" alone for about an hour while Mom & Dad enjoyed a hike all to themselves. While our only hope was that the cabin would still be standing and no one would be seriously injured when we returned, we were pleasantly surprised to find they had cleaned the entire cabin and played a civil game of Uno. It was one of those parenting moments where one thinks, "Maybe I'm not totally messing this up after all."
The weekend was also a time of prayer, reflection and a genuine sense of gratitude. We knew going up there we were blessed, but on the drive home we all had a renewed sense of well being and a smile that stayed on our faces well into the return to our normal routine at home.
So, while the days are getting hotter and we know the worst of the heat is yet to come, we are eagerly anticipating the slow pace that comes with summer. A time when the only thing we have to do is make sure we get a refill on our lemonade between laps in the pool. Okay, maybe it's not quite that slow, but, from one who loves to schedule everything, I plan to schedule more time for absolutely nothing...
In His Service,
