Sunday Sentiments

I love the Olympics, and I'm so happy they are back! Ryan and I were on duty Friday night, but I was so grateful it was a quiet night in WillowBridge, and I was able to take my work to the couch and multi-task! Opening ceremonies and notes...all at the same time. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the ceremonies. It was definitely strange to see such a massive stadium with empty seats, but I still loved watching the parade of nations and all the pageantry. Yesterday we kept coverage running on our TV, so we could catch bits and pieces as we ran in and out of the apartment between work projects. 

It was during one of those run-through breaks that I heard about athletes who had to forfeit their competition, because after they made it all the way to Japan, they had a positive test and had to withdraw.

That made me think of something I heard a few weeks ago at church. Our pastor did an entire series on lamenting, and throughout the series, he interviewed people within the church who had lamented a loss of some kind in life. His last interview was his own daughter. She's a teenager now, but as a very young child, he and his wife enrolled her in swim lessons and found out she was actually an extraordinary swimmer. 

She spent her entire childhood competing and was actually on track to appear at the very Olympic games we are watching on TV right now. But a few years ago, what started as an apparent strained muscle ended up becoming a mysterious, still-not-fully-understood injury that not only knocked her out of Olympic contention, but it knocked her out of swimming entirely. She lives in daily pain at high levels.

She spoke articulately and candidly about her disappointment and hurt over letting go of her biggest dream. She shared about the lessons God taught her in that time, helping her see that swimming was just one part of her whole life, but He had different plans for her.

I thought about that young woman and the dreams that took her away from a moment in time she hoped to know. I thought about the athletes who actually did make it to the games, only to be unable to compete because of illness. I thought about athletes who made it to the games and WILL compete, but one little mistake that never ever happens to them...happens. Right in that all-important moment.

The bottom line is that all of us can work so hard toward something specific in our lives, only to find our dreams dashed in the big moment. We can be tempted to see ourselves as failures and label our lives as a loss, but none of that is true.

Absolutely - those moments are difficult and disappointing. But those moments are just a piece of a much bigger life. God does so much with, through, and for us every single day. THOSE are the moments that matter the most. Even if we never get our one dream moment, the moments that string together to make up the rest of our lives do matter.

Maybe you're mourning something today. Maybe you're grieving something you had to let go of before you were ready or without the results you hoped. It's okay to mourn and grieve. But don't write off your life or purpose. God has so much more for you!!

The Saturday Six

 

One.

Curious about the decorating trends coming our way in 2022? This post has some detailed predictions. I was surprised at how many of them felt like trends I could embrace. But oh goodness...a few of them...I just can't even!

Two.

I seem to be tossing a lot of recipes your way before I even try them, but this one has me literally drooling. I will eat pie and cobbler without a complaint, but a fruit CRISP is always my favorite. This one looks amazing. And I must confess that the idea of making them in individual servings is a bonus. Why is everything always cuter and more appealing when made in an individual serving?????

Three.

I've never had a bay window in a kitchen or dining room, but if I did...I would LOVE this seating arrangement. First of all, I'm a sucker for window seats, and then that table in addition? SWOON!!!!!! (Just overlook the price. Focus on the pretties.)

Four.

I like living small...but I'm not sure I could live THIS small. Could you? (Cute little renovation, though!)

Five.

Now that we have our little buddy visiting us on the regular, I'm always on the lookout for non-prepackaged foods to serve that will allow us to eat a regular meal and give him something to eat, too. I liked these ideas! (And I should get divided plates. For myself. Ha!)

Six.

I should not play with wood burners, so creating engraved wooden spoons for a gift is the WORST idea for me. (To clarify: I think they are adorable. I just shouldn't attempt to make them.) But the whipped butter looks much more my speed! That looks like a really easy and doable hostess gift!

One Prayer Update

 

At the end of June, I told you that I'd read about Beth Moore's challenge to devote the month of July to prayer and how I felt personally prompted to pray over one specific thing for the month of July.

I had no idea how my prayer might change as the month went along - or how my prayer might change me as the month went along. But I put it as an actual appointment in my day planner and have been showing up for it for the past 22 (now 23) days. 

I'm not quitting, by the way. I'm just giving an update. 

I have observed that when people take on a specific project like this, they have dreams of a grand and obvious change. I honestly had no preconceived thoughts going into it - which is new for me. I used to like to "help" God figure out how a project should proceed, but this time I was determined to just show up for my part and wait to see what God would do for His part. 

It's a good thing I didn't have my heart set on a grand moment, because so far, at least, there hasn't been one. It's been a sweet appointment each day, though. And when I say it's been a sweet appointment, I don't want to misrepresent myself. I haven't come into each day eager to pray what I knew I should pray about. And on the days when I really really didn't want to pray about it, I didn't hide that. I confessed it and prayed anyway. 

I haven't had a front row (or even back row) seat to what my prayers are doing in the lives of those I'm praying for throughout this month. I am trusting that God is using those prayers for good in their lives, but I am also aware I may never know how He is working.

But I'm still praying.

There was one moment, though, a few days ago, that gave me a glimmer of hope that perhaps God is working in bigger ways than I can see. It was sort of a second/third-hand story about one of the people I'm praying for - and it surprised me. I didn't expect to hear the good news I heard, and it gave me hope that perhaps things are stirring and changing for good. 

That news gave me the strength to push through for more days of prayer with a renewed confidence that just because I can't see or don't know what is happening doesn't mean something ISN'T happening! 

And so I will continue to pray. I will continue to hope (which, I've learned, means confident expectation not crossed fingers) that God will use the words I offer, even when they feel meager. 

Whether or not you took on a prayer challenge in July, I urge you to pray hard and confidently over the things God presses upon your heart. He is always at work, even if you don't know how or when! 

Chain o Lakes State Park...A Day of Rest

I woke up at 5 in the morning on Sunday itching like crazy from all my bug bites. I got up and put anti-itch cream on and went back to sleep to TRY to get some rest. Just a moment later I was awakened by the people at the next campsite splitting wood for their fire. I grumbled under my breath about splitting wood at 7:00 in the morning when people are trying to sleep, and then I looked at my watch.

Almost 10:00 in the morning.

Guess that anti-itch cream worked really well!! I was OUT! I apologized (though they didn't hear my grumbling) for accusing them of splitting wood during quiet hours and then thanked the Lord for those hours of rest that my body absolutely needed!

Ryan had slept in too (which he doesn't normally do) but he hopped up and went outside to start the fire for the second half of the campfire breakfast adventures. 

There was actually a slight breeze that morning, so I was able to sit outside without excessive bug visits! I loved it. I had been so sad that I didn't get to just sit outside like I hoped.

(Sorry for the truly awful picture of us both. But you know - we just woke up.) 

We had initially planned to finish the 9 lake paddle challenge that day, but we decided to just rest instead. By the time we were done with breakfast, we would have had to hustle to paddle five more miles and get our campsite packed up by the time we needed to get out. So we just rested, and I think it was the best thing for us. We watched some TV. We rode our bikes. We sat at the beach for a while. It was lovely!

We also walked all over the campground, making notes of sites we might like to stay in the future!

We decided to do one more campfire meal before we came home and then it was time to tear down our beloved site. It was our first time to take down everything (awning, lights, etc.) and we weren't sure how quickly it would all come down. We were pleasantly surprised at the speed.

And then I had to drive back home!! The worst part was getting out of the campground, ironically. I was so thankful that the place had emptied out into a ghost town, because it made it easier to maneuver. And of course, the ONE ROAD I needed to exit the campground ended up being blocked by a truck trying to attach to a trailer. I couldn't confidently back up, so Ryan pulled his truck into an empty site, hopped out, backed up the RV and took it on a detour, and then I ran like the wind (if the wind was a pitiful breeze) to catch him and jump back in the driver's seat for the ride home.

And that was the end of our first proper state park camping trip! Three glorious days! (Almost.) SO much fun, so much rest, and so many campfires!!!

Chain o Lakes State Park...A Day on the Water!

 One of the things Ryan looked forward to the most about our camping adventures was cooking over the fire, so this past Saturday morning, he got up early and headed out with his coffee and the cast iron skillet to make a proper camping breakfast.

I slept. (He loves getting up early and making breakfast. I love sleeping in. It's a win-win for everyone.) I did wake up sporadically and took pictures from the bed. LOL!!

I ventured forth long enough to eat, but the bugs were out in full force, so I didn't stay long after breakfast!! :) 

One thing we had learned about Chain o Lakes is that they have a 9 lake paddle challenge. The park itself has 9 lakes that are strung together by channels (plus a few more that aren't connected) and you can canoe/kayak all nine if you want. It's about a five mile journey, and you can take pictures along the way to prove you did the whole thing, and then you can purchase some kind of souvenir to celebrate your upper body strength.

Here's the problem.

Unless you have an entourage to pick you up, if you start at one end and paddle to the other, you have no way to get back to the starting point unless you paddle all the way back or carry your watercraft down the road. So apparently most people start at the middle lake (where you can rent a boat if you need to) and paddle one way and come back...and then maybe on a different day, they do the other half. Either way, you're paddling 10 miles instead of 5, but if you don't do it all at once, it's less daunting. 

We took Fletcher, our inflatable kayak, and drove from our campsite to the boat launch to begin our journey through five of the lakes!

We started out at Sand Lake, which is the lake that has the beach we'd visited the night before. We paddled through a long and picturesque channel that looked like a hiking trail...in the water. It was covered on both sides by trees and brush and was so beautiful!

From there, we emptied into Bowen Lake, which was also beautiful and almost glassy!

We went through a short channel and emptied into Dock Lake:

The next channel was long and narrow (like only wide enough for one boat) and full of lily pads and brush. It was also full of 90 degree twists and turns. It was an ADVENTURE!

We made it through and ended up in Long Lake, where we took a wrong turn and ended up paddling the ENTIRE lake on our way to the final lake in this half of the challenge. But we got to see some turtles sunning themselves, and we got in a little extra exercise, so yay!

We finally got back on track and went to Sucker Lake, which is technically the starting point of the challenge.

Then we had to paddle back! We did at least five miles that day with the there-and-back of the first half.

I told Ryan that when we launched out, I figured we would be the Cousin Eddies of the lake...our there in our inflatable kayak, but much to our surprise, we were the coolest kids on the water. We lost count of the number of people who paddled by and asked questions about how we liked the kayak and how it was holding up to use. So many of them said they were tired of hauling and storing traditional kayaks, and they found the inflatable route super appealing. Who knew??

By the time we got back to our campsite, Ryan's fabulous breakfast cooking had worn off, so we had something to eat, and then we decided to bike to the Stanley Schoolhouse to check it out. It's this amazing one room schoolhouse (in the park) that was used clear up until the 1950s! 

There was a trailhead right next to the schoolhouse, and it was only about a mile loop, so we decided to hike it real quick before biking back. First of all, I was NOT wearing hiking shoes, and secondly, the bugs were INSANE. I wish we had a video of us hiking this because both of us were literally marching down the trail, waving both our arms around our heads with much gusto. It was not enjoyable in the least. But it was funny! (And the trail was pretty!)

And then it was back to camp to make hamburgers for dinner. Ryan wanted to cook them over the fire and he did...finishing JUST as the rain started again.

The bugs got so bad again, so I went inside, and my prince of a husband stayed out in the rain, under an umbrella, to roast my marshmallow to perfection! I love him!!

And then we rested inside. Bug-free.