Life in the Plenty

I keep making the comment, "Life still seems so full!" Back in our Kanakuk days I remember one of the directors' wives referring to the end of summer as "hitting the wall." You spend a high energy summer serving and laughing and staying up late, and then in what feels like the blink of an eye it's all over. The kids and families and counselors leave and life returns to "normal." I anticipate this event in England, after the family is moved, the bags are unpacked, Robert has started class and life seems to begin again with the slower rhythm of the day-in and day-out. I really look forward to this but am a little terrified of it (and maybe the loneliness of a new place?) at the same time.

So what I really intended for this post (before the long intro) was a recap of the fun of this past week. It started last weekend with a special trip to the beach to visit some wonderful extended family, including Grandbud and Nana, the girls' great-grandmother and Grandbud's sisters, Carol and Laurie. There was a pool, so the girls were, naturally, in paradise!

Nana and Meg swapping secrets through the foam noodle :)

Little water bugs

Chillin' out max and relaxin' all cool...

Then it was a wild week of work for Robert and me which included one night of happening upon THIS version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella:

I mean, this really merits its own blog post, but what?!?! I was completely sucked into this crazy knock-off version of the older R&H Cinderella I watched as a kid. I mean, did you know BRANDY is Cinderella in this one?? And Whitney Houston is the fairy godmother? How did I miss this hilariousness?! It will be on the must-watch list for the next Sister weekend.

... Moving on to Wednesday night, July 3rd, when the military base closest to us puts on Freedom Fest complete with music and food vendors and great fireworks. I had really been looking forward to going out with the fam... AND then it rained... and rained... and rained! And we spent the night IN enjoying our little break from the "fullness!"

And then came July 4th and one of my dear friends from college came up from New Orleans for a visit. AND it rained and rained, but what is rain with an old friend?! Liz and I had a great time catching up,

eating boiled shrimp (if I can help anyone learn from my mistakes, do NOT open the mesh bag with the shrimp boil seasonings!),

polishing off a patriotic dessert,

watching fireworks on TV,

while blowing on the American flag pinwheel. It wasn't the Fourth I had exactly envisioned, but it was a wonderful one!

On Friday, we took a quick day-trip to the beach, where it was still raining but made for a nice cool day by the ocean.

Girls finding shells on the shore

Saturday included some shopping and a great lunch with Liz and then a trip to the country for a get together with Sunday School friends. There were lots of kids, lots of good food & conversation, and lots of fireworks.

Brad putting on a great fireworks show for us!

Watching the bigger fireworks

sister love

 

And I feel like I have been living life in the "plenty" and I want to be truly thankful for the fullness of this season. I want to seek the Giver and be reminded of the temporariness of all these things. Not so I'll cling to the things tighter, but entrust them more fully to their Maker. These thoughts remind me of Paul's words in Philippians:

 

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

 

PS - I should learn to never write a post on Saturday night before the perspective Sunday often brings. We had a great Sunday School lesson on the life of Jan Hus (Czech Priest, Church reformer and martyr) and then a sermon on Hebrews 4:1-13 which includes the phrase: "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest..." God offers true rest for our souls! What a gift this was to hear after writing a post like this! Let us make every effort to enter that rest.