Last week, John and I spent a lot of time walking with our daughter and son-in-law, Rachel and Richard, and their son, Jack, in beautiful forest areas in the Seattle environs. We had been recruited for this week away some time ago when our kids knew they wanted to attend a wedding in the city on the weekend, and they assumed it would help if Jack had some built-in babysitters. Since John was having his 59th birthday that weekend, and our 34th wedding anniversary was the following weekend, we thought it was a good way to celebrate those occasions, too.
To be honest, I had agonized in April about whether or not it was wise to accept this invitation when we knew we would be coming new to this church only six weeks previous to the trip. The SPRC was consulted about this request and generously consented to this week away in the middle of the summer, and I am now very, very grateful for that generosity.
Only when I could breathe mountain air and see the beautiful sights of thick ferns, wild raspberry vines, and huge Sitka spruces, both living and dead, did I realize how intense the past six months have been for me. I am a person who gets in the zone and does what I have to do, tunneling through, and so it has been---through completing the busiest year of my superintendency of the Corpus District, organizing a physical move to Austin, making that move, and transitioning back into local church life in this vital church.
It was nice to breathe. I highly recommend it. Breathe even if it isn’t mountain air.
I truly believe we’ve all lost insight into how harried the lives are that we lead because the pace at which we live is so taken for granted. I don’t know about you, but I catch myself thinking as I’m driving in on Mo-Pac, “Surely, there’s a call I could make while I’m driving so I’m not wasting this time.” Waiting at a restaurant today, I noticed that everyone waiting was either using a phone for a call or the internet to take advantage of the moment.
Does anyone besides me remember that it wasn’t that long ago we didn’t do this? Maybe we even took a few breaths back in the olden days.
Thank you for allowing us this week away. I hope you are having a respite this summer that will enable you to connect to the wonders of creation and your own breath.
What a beautiful picture you paint, Barbara! Thank you for sharing this with us. We are so glad you and Pastor John are here, and that you were able to take a break during what must be a very intense transition!
ReplyDeleteOkay, Barbara. Enough of the respite. Welcome back to "hurry up" land. :) John G.
ReplyDeleteMy 98 year old mother lives in Seattle. It's a wonderful part of the world.