Crazy Happy Beautiful: June 2014

We went away last week!

To the beach

The view from our rental house

We drove 14 hours to the gulf coast, rented a house with two other families, and spent a week doing beach vacation things

Feet in the surf

We needed this time.

Dinner and a movie are better at the beach!

We needed to rest

Both physically and spiritually.

We slept in until our bodies woke up, we were never in a hurry, we napped, we took it easy.

And we prayed together, and read from God's word, and stared at the open water trying to wrap our brains around how huge it is compared to us, and yet how tiny it is in comparison to our God and His love for us.

We needed to relax.

We ate good food, we read, we played cards, we laughed with our friends.

Dinner out

We needed to renew

Renew our mission to love people and share Jesus. To serve our God with all we have. To not be caught up in the daily grind. And renew our love of the outdoors, and our spirits of adventure.

Friendly tomfoolery in the sea

We needed to reconnect,

To put down the screens, leave the tablets at home (a very happy accident) and be with each other. Face to face. Marriage is hard. Marriage between two stubborn, independent, outspoken, know-it-all's is really hard. Marriage that includes infertility and adoption is even harder. We needed to create opportunities to reconnect. See each other. Hear each other. Hold hands and rest our heads on each other's shoulders.

We needed to remember

We are so blessed. We have much to be thankful for.

In the busyness of life, we can either forget our blessings or become so focused on them that they become burdens.

And we have to remember that beyond material things we have been given so so very much. Redemption. Salvation. Grace. Peace. Love without bounds. All are ours because we belong to God.