Asking

First up, happy birthday to my mom!! Remember a few years ago when we had that surprise party for her? Those memories popped up for me a few days ago and I loved watching the videos all over again. That was such a fun day. Anyway! Happy birthday, Mom! I am sorry I don't have a party for you today, but I hope you have a delightful day! 

We are heading home today from our adventures in camping. We have just had the best time. We were smart to come right after Labor Day. The campground has random signs of life, but for the most part, it's completely empty. (So empty, in fact, that when someone dares to walk by, Phoebe feels that they are intruding on her space. I guess we own this whole road!) 

Know what this trip has done for us? (Besides the obvious of rest, of course.) It's reminded us of how dearly we love lake life and how our dreams are split between being able to travel in our RV and come home to a lake. 

Yesterday we kayaked around this sleepy little lake. Most of the lake is actually surrounded by trees, with no homes in sight. As we paddled, we saw old, broken down piers now and then, but they led straight into the trees with no sign of life behind them. Across from the campground are a few small houses that look like year-round homes, and we fought against the wind to get close to them, but none had a for-sale sign in the yard. Sadness.

I may or may not have peeked on realtor.com to see if there's anything for sale in the area. Not a ton, but I did find a few options. We aren't in a place to buy right now, so we just dream about someday, when we can have a winter landing point for our days off to match our summer landing point of Abby.

Lake life offers such a gift of quietness. It is quite literally the only place on earth where I don't feel guilty for merely sitting and watching. Anywhere else, it feels like I really should be up and doing something. But the lake, with its rippling water and breeze in the trees, just beckons us to sit quietly and listen for the Lord's voice.

I welcome the invitation.

God has been reminding me lately that I haven't been good about asking. I have so expected a string of no answers that I just haven't asked. I haven't asked like I should about things with our work. About things with our future. About our dreams. And so much more.

So I'm working on asking, and this "weekend" has reminded me to ask for things that may not truly matter in the scope of life, but they matter to my heart. 

And so yesterday I sat to ask. Of course I'll submit to whatever answer He gives, but I'm learning again how to ask. 

Peace

We hadn't really fully unpacked Abby from our last trip, but we spent yesterday morning repacking the things we'd taken out. (I told Ryan that maybe in five or six seasons, we'll have a full set of everything we need that just lives in the RV permanently and all we'll have to add is food. Ha!) 

A little before noon, we drove off, and in two shakes of a lamb's tail, we were at our destination. We made the best decision in arriving at the campground ON Labor Day...the same day everyone else went home. We drove past all the permanently placed campers and found our spot all by itself, nestled up against the lake.

Did you hear me? THE LAKE!!!! We are right on the water, my friends. 

I have so many pictures, but I couldn't get them to transfer to my computer, so I'll circle back to show you more later. Meanwhile, this is our view. We backed Miss Abby right up to the lake and parked our camping chairs right there where we can look out over the water.

We cooked over the campfire, took bike rides and walks through the park, and when the sun set, we had this beautiful view:

Ahhhhh.

Because this is more of a resort campground the WiFi signal is strong (vs. being off the grid entirely like we have been the last couple of times) and I was able to sit down and scrapbook for a while. It was so heart-filling.

And late at night, Ryan stirred up the campfire, and we sat by the water, looking at a dark sky full of bright stars. We listened to fish flipping in the water and frogs somewhere in the distance.

So peaceful. So needed.

Sitting beside the water reminded me of all those years I had the chance to enjoy lake life each summer. It reminded me of all the lessons I learned while studying my Bible beside the water. It reminded me of the refreshment I always felt when I went back home - peppered with sadness because I was going back home, of course. 

Looking forward to more of that in this weekend of ours. Looking forward to lake-life-peace. 

Abby Accessories

 Today is quite possibly the first Labor Day that Ryan and I have ever had off together. All the years he worked at the hospital, he worked Labor Day (or at least it seems that way in my mind) and last year we both worked it here at WillowBridge.

I am thrilled to have today off - and the next two as well! We are taking our September outing in Abby, and yes, we know it comes just a week after our August outing. Phoebe is coming along with us this time, so we'll see how it goes camping with a dog! 

But, I have a fun new little Abby-decoration to show you today! We haven't installed it yet, but we are super excited!

My friend Amber made this for us! (Hand painted...not a vinyl cutout.)

We LOVE IT!!!!

As a nod to the former Shafferland Shuffle here on the blog, we decided having an RV should be called "The Shafferland Shuttle." Of course, then we named our first RV Abby, but we know we probably won't have her forever. So we asked Amber to make us a sign we could hang in whatever RV/camper we have at the time, and she left room for future names to be added, if we ever switch up rigs!

This is going to hang over the front door to Abby - and we can't wait to have it fully installed. We picked it up from Amber last week on our way home from our last camping trip, but there was no time to actually install it this week.

We've also been adding patches and stickers to our little "places we've been" wall. 

We think for all the limitations we've had this year with not being able to be gone as much as we hoped, we sure have been LOTS of places! 

I still haven't figured out what I want to hang in the bedroom. I thought about pictures from some of our trips, but I'm not sure. (And I don't want to do anything until I'm sure.)

We think Miss Abby is going to look pretty spiffy, and we sure have loved having her this year. We're learning more and more with each trip about what we love and what we would want to do differently with a future RV. (We even stopped to talk to a guy at the campground who owned a type of RV that intrigued us. He was super kind and gave us lots of information!) 

So here's to a few days of rest, a few days of fun-with-Pheebs, and a few more memories made in the Shafferland Shuttle known as Abby! 

Sunday Sentiments

I love to journal. (You know that about me.)

Last night I sat down to journal and found the words slow to flow. The long, creative sentences that usually fill the page just got stuck in my head and my offering bordered on most lame journal entry ever.

Then I did something I rarely do in a journal entry. I just wrote short sentences...little questions and thoughts I had for the Lord. Each one started a new paragraph, and none of them were followed with any conclusions or answers.

And in no time at all, I had filled a page with questions, fears, thoughts, ideas, and prayers.

It was a good reminder for me that my prayers don't have to be elegant. The sentences don't have to be complex to be meaningful. 

They do need to be honest. 

The same is true for you. Maybe your brain is jumbled and you wish you had elegant and profound things to pray - or to share with those around you. 

But you don't.

Your briefest thoughts still count. Embrace them even in their brevity. Even if all you have are questions and fears to offer up to the Lord, offer them.

Say what you can. Ask what you need. Trust Him from there.

I shared a quote with our tenants this week that said this: "Trust God more than you trust your feelings." (Jennifer Rothschild)

This weekend I trusted Him with my jumbled feelings and short sentences. My feelings remained and were just as untrustworthy as before. But my heart was strengthened in giving God what I had, meager as it may have been.

I encourage you to do the same! 

The Saturday Six

 

One.

These are not new, by any means, but they're new to me! When Ryan and I were on vacation this summer, we stopped at a little boutique in Casey, Illinois to look for a dress for me to wear to the Gateway Auction. (Found it!!!) While we were there, I found a pair of workout pants on clearance and bought those too. You guys? THEY HAVE POCKETS FOR MY PHONE!!! I've never had pockets in workout pants, and it has absolutely revolutionized my life. How am I just now learning this?!?!!?!?

Two.

I confess I'm posting this one mostly for my sister, who IS the world's coolest Nana. But for any of you with kiddos in your life - isn't this a cool handmade Christmas gift??

Three.

I know that every week, I keep saying I've found the perfect house plan. Maybe there really are THAT MANY perfect house plans. Have I shared this one before? If not, here's another perfect one!! (LORI!!!! Could you get on board with this one?) 

Four.

A few years ago, we visited Letchworth State Park, which is known as the Grand Canyon of the East. Oh, how we loved that visit!! It was beautiful and still one of the trips we talk about the most! Whilst scrolling through Pinterest, I found this post about Georgia's version of the Grand Canyon, and now I want to see that! (For the record, I also still want to see the ACTUAL Grand Canyon!) Anyway - Lynnette, have you seen this one?) 

Five.

I don't have a link for this one, but I want to say that next Saturday marks the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. If you've read the blog very long, you know I always spend the day watching documentaries and honoring the stories of those who lost their lives that day. This year I work on 9/11, but I plan to try to still watch as many as I can! I know there will be a bunch of new ones since this marks 20 years. Are any of you fellow documentary watchers? If so, and if you have your eye on one, let me know! (Side note: One of our tenants was talking with me about 9/11 this week and he said, "Oh yeah! I was a year old then!" Thanks for that. I'm officially old.) 

Six.

If you're struggling with the difficulties of EVERYTHING right now (and you're sure not alone if you are), I encourage you to read these words by Barbara Rainey. I needed them! Maybe you do too! 

105 Months!

 

Yesterday we celebrated 105 months of marriage! 

We've given a marriage talk a few times (Valentine's Banquets, wedding showers, etc.) in which we've shared the difference between a difficult marriage and difficult days. Before we were married, we had a lot of people tell us how hard marriage could be. But we've learned that for us, anyway, marriage hasn't been hard. Life has been hard sometimes. We've worked consciously at not mixing up the two. 

This last month has been a hard life month. Ryan's been healing from that severe ankle sprain, work has had multiple extra challenges, Ryan's still working through estate stuff, and of course, the world in general seems to get harder every day. 

But I can say without any reservation that this 105th month of marriage has been as sweet as the rest. As we've navigated things like hosting Jeremiah for 4 days, welcoming Phoebe for a bit, bringing a new tenant into the mix, prepping for another new tenant, and pulling long, long work days, shouldering the load with Ryan has been sweet.

He has listened well when my heart has been overwhelmed. He has picked up extra work when I need a moment to rest and collect myself. I've picked up extra work when he was still trying to heal from his injury. We've had long talks. We've taken specific, active steps to make investments in our mental and physical health so work stresses don't overcome us.

I am so grateful for him. I am so grateful for life we share and the work we do together. 

Yesterday we were on duty alone, so our ability to get away was minimal, but we were able to pause to breathe a bit after a couple of particularly extra-long days. That was pretty wonderful!

I made cauliflower nachos for lunch, and they were delish!

Know what would have made them better? Remembering to add the avocado after they baked. #fail.

We hung out with Pheebs...

And then we sneaked over to the coffee shop for some fresh brew and a piece of shared carrot cake. GORGEOUS day to sit outside for a date!

And then we went back to work! 

It was a low key day, but not low key in the gratitude of my heart. 

I love you, Ryan!

Thank you for being present and invested for each of the 105 months, but especially this last one!

Annnnnd Home Again

 All good things must come to an end, right? And our little time in our RV did just that! I told you yesterday that we awakened to this on Monday morning. I contended that it was a sign the campground did not want us to leave, so we should probably just stay. ;) 

But the best part was...since we had put everything away the night before in anticipation of the rain, our morning could look blissfully like this:

No, we didn't get a coffee table. That is our kayak tub! LOL! We pulled it inside early so it didn't get all wet. It had to ride to and from the campsite inside Abby this time. (And then we didn't even get to use it!)

I do have to tell you this funny story from our exit to the campground. The night before, when we were doing our packing-up, we took our bag of trash out to the dumpster. But as we left the campground Monday morning, we had one more little grocery bag of trash to toss. Ryan pulled RIGHT UP next to the dumpster and rolled down my window so I could toss it in. The dumpster was quite literally level with me. 

I told him I would miss. He said it was impossible.

Do you think it was impossible?

Yeah, I threw it, it hit the window on the way out and plummeted to the ground next to the RV. Ryan's face was so priceless. He said, "HOW DID YOU MISS THAT????"

(I mean I promised I would...so it wasn't a surprise to me!) 

There are very specific reasons why I didn't play sports, you guys.

Anyway. 

We took a different way home because we had an extra passenger to pick up:

Whatttttt???? Phoebe?? You better believe it! She is visiting for a while! And I think she liked Abby because she still tries to go stand by her when we go to the parking lot. Ha!

After we got home and settled, we took her on a sunset walk. Oh my goodness. So many new smells. And she wanted to smell every single one. 

I will never tire of that view.

And with that...back on duty we went! Thanks for traveling along on our trip with us! :) 

Camping, Part 2

I had just a few more pictures and fun to share with you from our camping trip, so here we go!

Not only did we get a fabulous 2 hour nap that first day we were out, but we also got a full 8+ hours of sleep going into Sunday morning, and THAT was a gift, too. A true day of rest! 

The forecast said there could be rain, but it held off, and we enjoyed a most beautiful day! Ryan was excited to get out there that morning and build a fire so he could cook our breakfast egg skillet dish!

It was so delicious! (And I just realized all those pictures posted backwards. But you know what? It's late, and I worked a super-sized day today, so just imagine them in the right order! :) 

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk and explore parts of the campground we hadn't seen during our bike ride the previous day.

When we came back....ugh. The not-so-pretty part of camping happened. It was super hot and I needed more water, so I filled up my water tumbler. When I tried to put the pitcher back in the door of the RV refrigerator, the wire holder that straps it in place popped out, and the pitcher went crashing to the floor. The lid popped off, pouring water all through the RV. It warped our runner rug, it ran down the front step and into our shoes, it created more mess than we had towels on hand to clean up, AND the pitcher itself shattered.

I fell on my knees and started sobbing, because I was so afraid the water was going to seep beneath our new flooring and make it warped too, we had to use Ryan's pool towel for cleanup (before we even got to the pool), and that pitcher was the only way we could have cold water, which is the only way I can drink it very well. 

But in truth, I cried because that mental picture of watching the pitcher crash to the floor, explode, and pour everywhere was a picture of pieces of life right now. I could not stop crying. Long after cleanup, I was still sitting in the chair, crying inconsolably, while Ryan tried to tell me it was all okay. 

I needed that cry. Even in the inconvenience of it all, I think maybe the broken pitcher was a gift from God to allow a dam in my heart to break and those tears to FINALLY come out. (Crying is not something I often have time for in our job, because it takes SO MUCH mental energy.) 

Once the hiccupping subsided a bit, I took to my devos and Ryan went out to sit in a lawn chair and do his also.

After we felt better, we decided to head for the pool for some relaxation.

Ummmmm there was no relaxation at the pool. Just kids cannonballing into the water and saying on repeat, "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Watch me. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom."

So we sat on the sidelines and watched and then went back to the quietness of our camper.

And our lunch: Campfire pizzas.

We went for more walks and bike rides in the afternoon. The place was DESERTED and it was so lovely.

She was lookin' pretty cute out there by herself! 

Much later in the evening, we made our last campfire meal, which was a burger/potato foil packet, and it was also very tasty.

And s'mores. Because of course.

We saw on the weather app that it could be super stormy overnight and into the morning, so before we went to bed, we took up the sewer hose, the rug, tables, chairs, outdoor lights and awning. We tried to make the place as ready to go as possible when the morning arrived.

Sure glad we did! This was the view out the window come morning:

But oh. What a good, good day it was. Spilled water and all.