FLY

It's been such a nice first week of November. If you're looking for an election post, not today. I'm sure if you're apart of any social media or if you have a phone or mailbox, you like me have been overloaded with election talk. Let's just take a moment, let's take a break....let's take a bike ride, if only in our heads.

 

Over the weekend, we found ourselves free, so we did what any free birds would do, we flew!

 

We packed the kids up and went for a bike ride. We cruised around our area for a few hours, grabbed some lunch and visited the park...

Lucia is not a fan of helmets!

 Sometimes...you just need to fly!

 

Today's Reflection:

"Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness."

-Psalm 55:6-7

 

 

BUT FIRST

I wrote down the date yesterday and the number 10 just put me into a little state shock. 10! that means only 3 months left this year...I've really gotta get moving on those 2012 resolutions! Sometimes I can overwhelm myself with mental 'to-do' list...not 'mental' like psychotic, but 'mental' meaning in my head (I'm not sure that cleared anything up!) I'm trying to take goals one at a time and not overwhelm myself with the unfinished, untouched goals. I've really been working on making the most of family time. We started trying to go on weekly picnics to the park. That's a nice goal lately. After a busy summer, we are in need of some family down time.

I'm usually a "but first..." type of girl. You know, let's go on a picnic, but first...I'll have to wake up early and go to the store to make a fresh lunch. But first...I'll have to research the parks and pick the best one. But first...we'll have to pack up toys and activities for the kids. I'm not really sure why I do this, but I know I miss the point of the picnic when I do.  So I'm trying to refocus and remember the most important part of the picnic is spending time with my family. So we pick up a lunch, we drive around until we find a nice shady tree, we lay out the blanket already in our car and we play with whatever we find or was left in the car...

Grateful that I didn't let the 'but firsts...' get in my way and make me miss these moments.

 

Today's Reflection:

Sometimes I get so caught up on the "but firsts..." It frustrates me, because I miss out on great opportunities. I get so focused on  things only I care about and forget to look at what is really important. I can only imagine how frustrated God could get at me. He has beautiful plans for me, and here I am...

 

okay God, but first I have to become well versed in the bible

But first I have to pray more.

But first I have to stop making mistakes

But first I have to fix my life to a point I think is good enough.

 

and God is like...I just wanted to have a picnic with you, I'm asking you to just come and I'll handle the details.

 

I've got to stop trying to do what I think needs to get done and focus on what God's asking me to do.

 

" Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored."

-Romans 8:5-8

THE END OF SUMMER EPISODE: CAMP LIFE

You remember on 'Saved by the Bell' how right before they would start the new fall season and go back to school they would always have Zack at home hanging out reminiscing about the summer episodes we all just watched? Well this is that episode.

First, Let me apologize if you didn't get that reference, my T.V. analogies may be a bit outdated. I thought I'd share some of our camping pictures that I never got around to. We love camping! Our kids have been going since in the womb (literally, I went both pregnancies!) One of our family favorites is Manchester Beach. We love the KOA there, it makes camping with the kids super easy and fun, so you can focus more on enjoying camp life!

 

The beach is just a short hike from the campground, so you get a little bit of the woodsy feel and a little sand in your feet!

 

I've been coming to this beach and taking this hike since I was a little girl, so it's fun to get to experience it every year with family and my children..

and although a few of us got sick this year...nothing beats camp life and the memories made!

I understand why Zack took time to look back on the summer...It's just a good time and I'd hate to go into fall without saying a little 'Thank You' to summer! Thank you summer! See you next year!

 
Today's reflection:
Sitting at home looking at the pictures of the beach and trees and dirt makes me so grateful for the amazing God who created it all!

^"Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! And why? Because God is the best,  High King over all the gods. In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns, in the other hand grasps the high mountains. He made Ocean—he owns it! His hands sculpted Earth!"
-Psalm 95: 1-5 (the message)

*on a side note...I giggled a little when I read this scripture from 'The Message', did the bible just say 'raise the roof'? I guess we're all outdated today!

 

CAMPING AGAIN!

So we just got back from our annual camping trip. Sorry for not posting but every time I sat down and opened the computer it felt wrong...just wrong. Staring at the screen like I do at home just took away from being in the great outdoors. Every year we go I have a list of things I want to do while away. First, take a long walk to the beach just me and my hubby. Second, take a little morning jog and end it with a little devotional. Third, nature/photo walk. Fourth, spend a lot of time playing on the beach with my kids. Sounds great right? Unfortunately, I forgot to pack the list and so once we got their a new list was re-written which included, freezing my butt off and getting sick. Despite all that we had such a great trip!

I'll be back with more pictures and post later, but for now, loads of camp laundry are calling me and I am still a little under the weather.

I'll leave you with this...We stopped on our caravan home to take a group shot under the redwoods. I think we all imagined that beautiful money shot you see in magazines. Unfortunately we are not the group that ends up in magazines. So this is what we got...

trying for a little organization, I shout "Let's do a jump shot!" and unfortunately, we are not a "Jump Shot" group either, so here is what we got...

However, the genuine smiles and laughing that came with each shot was priceless and I'm so happy that we got each one!

Today's Reflection:

Sometimes we try to go for picture perfect, but picture perfect, although lovely hanging on your wall is not always as great in your heart. Picture perfect can sound nice, but sometimes it's those bloopers in life that we remember always. The camping trip was not exactly how I pictured, but it was still so much fun. Besides, who ever says "Hey remember that time everything went right?"

Lord, thank you for a safe trip. Thank you for joy and bloopers. Thank you for your presence, yesterday, today and tomorrow. Thank you for the joy you bring to even those who are not picture perfect!



IN THE MORNING

Joy came in the morning...well, after a little waking up, joy came...

 and coffee...and pure camping deliciousness...

and bubbles...

and nothing interupting or distracting us from the beauty of the morning and togetherness

Today's Reflection:

"You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength. You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations. Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy."

-Psalm 65:6-8

How beautiful is that? The sun rose and with it came the inspiration for shouts of joy. It was easy to see how amazing God is and how wonderfully crafted the world around me and people around me are. What joy the morning brings when nothing interupts or distracts you from the wonders of God!