Today was one of those days. The kids all seem taller and older and more mature and smarter than they were not too long ago. Mikaela seems more and more like a young lady every week. Toby is getting taller and more and more like a boy instead of a little boy. Timothy has a vocabulary that surprises people all the time. And I'm changing, too.
This last weekend we went camping with a church from a town nearby so we could share with them around a campfire and Sunday morning "service" about what we're doing. It sounded like a lot of fun and an amazing opportunity to really get to know some people over a weekend instead of just during an hour or two during a church visit. (And it was!)
The weather has been pretty strange lately. It was much cooler than normal for most of May. And this last weekend was no exception! Instead of just sort of chilly at night and sunny t-shirt weather in the afternoons, it was raining and snowing most of Saturday night and much of the day Saturday. I've never gone camping in the snow before! I've never spent so many hours straight standing around a campfire before. And as you can see, we were sleeping in a TENT. In the mornings there was ice outside. CRAZY!
But what made me happy was that I didn't get frustrated or irritated when gloves got soaked or pants got muddy (except the last night when I was getting the kids in bed and in the middle of that night when Timothy was kicking me and I was cold and couldn't sleep...) In short, I was much more patient and content than I would have been in the past in that situation. I think I handled the stress of packing better than I used to and even came back home and got back into normal with much less disruption than in the past. And that's even with going as the "speakers" and in the middle of a bunch of other things we are doing!
Growing is good. : ) For all of us. But it's interesting how often we want to grow up faster. Timothy is turning 4 in just over a month (I know! How'd that happen???) and he wants to know if when he turns 4 he's gonna be a Daddy. (I remember having the exact same conversation with Toby when he was going to turn 4!) He's all of a sudden ready to be a dad... so he thinks. : )
But I know better. And God knows better when I think I'm ready to be all grown up... when I want to just skip on over to having the lessons learned already instead of having to learn them. When I want to just be wiser and stronger instead of having to do the faith exercises to get there. When I want to reap with songs of joy without the sowing tears first. Timothy has some more years of growing up before he gets to be a dad. I have some more years of growing up before I get to wherever I'm going... and then more growing until I get to eternity.
So like the evergreen trees who drink in the rain and put their roots down deep and grow and grow, Lord, keep growing me deeper in You and up in faith.
(And just for the fun of it... Here's a video I posted on my 4th ever blog post from another trip 4 years ago to these mountains that I love so very much. These kids really have grown up!)
love it. Thank you. I´ve been wanting to skip some lessons (and to be honest, on life itself sometimes!) recently :). Thanks for the encouragement. And I´m thinking about you guys and Friday :).
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