We just said goodbye to our friends, they’re flying back to Oregon after spending 6 days with us here in Florida. We are on Day 25 of our 40-day road-trip Sabbatical, we’ve driven more than 5,000 miles so far, and we’ve only had three days so far that are just our family (and those were just all-day drive days across the south). Of course, it’s been awesome seeing so many wonderful friends and family. But I can feel myself exhale and slip into what my soul has been craving: Sabbath rest.
Of course Ben will wake up in 30 minutes so it’s a short rest. 😉 But of course as you know there’s a different energy when it’s just your family, and we’ve had some sort of housemates (which we love!) for the last 10+ years. It’s weird to think of building a house that will only be our family, but I’m excited about the possibility of being a host family for Safe Families, and Lord willing, our new space will allow us to do just that. And of course Dad’s next door so that’s the best of both worlds.
It’s been so good to be with so many different people and see so many different parts of this country, different cultures and family-cultures. I love that! I feel like I’m learning so much just by seeing different things and different people. Here are a few thoughts so far:
Hospitality is huge.
I’m usually the one on the hosting-end of hospitality, and it’s easy to just kind of get in a rut of serving dinners and having people over and not really thinking much about it. But being in so many people’s homes, and especially staying the night in so many people’s homes has been so incredibly impacting.
It is such a powerful thing to have someone prepare space for you. Call ahead and find out what you like in your coffee. Check in to see what kind of sleeping arrangements works best for your littles. See what your favorite drinks are. When you’ve been driving for 8 hours and you’re hot, sweaty, exhausted, and you have four tired kids with you, it’s AMAZING to walk into a home and see a delicious dinner on the table, a glass of cold water in your hand, clean beds all ready … I mean, maybe it’s just me. But this is incredible! Who wants a musty motel when you can have a HOME?
And to experience the kindness of other people setting aside their whole life for a day or two (or three–some of you!) to just be with you. To cook for you and show you around their town. It’s incredible. Our culture is so different now because we have hotels, but I’m really hoping in our new home to set it up in such a way that people will come stay. I think we should ditch friend sleepovers and start having family sleepovers!
I love having less stuff.
We each brought one carry-on sized suitcase for our 6 weeks. This needed to include beach clothes, swimsuits, hiking stuff, Washington DC clothes, church clothes, etc. It forced us to keep it REALLY simple, and I’ve been loving it!
When you only have running shoes, flip-flops, or Birkenstocks, it doesn’t take long to choose your shoes. So much less decision fatigue and time spend on figuring out clothing. We have our one travel mug, our water bottle, our snack cup. It’s just been so nice to have less stuff. It feels like a rest for my brain! It’s definitely make me want to even further declutter our lives and only keep what we actually love and use.
It’s good to get some distance from my daily life.
When we’re in the thick of it, the stuff our lives can be so all-consuming. It can feel like the whole world is all about whatever you’re concerned about. Everything revolves around your concerns or fears or issues or whatever. Oh man, it’s so good just to GET AWAY FROM YOUR LIFE. To get a little distance and see OTHER PEOPLE’s lives and concerns and stresses and worries and joys. Turns out, we are really small!
There’s another whole world out here, and it just helps so much to gain perspective, especially by spending time with people whose lives are very different from our own. I enjoy this about all three of my sisters-in-law. Our lives are very different, and it’s so helpful to spend time with them and realize how drastically different their stresses and fears and joys and sorrows may be.
I remember how much I love our life.
I’m sure this is true for everyone: Being away reminds me how much I love Oregon. I mean the Florida sun is great, Tennessee homes are gorgeous, Georgia peaches are like nothing else in the world, BUT…I love Oregon. The water alone is reason to love it there! 😉 The rain is rough, but the beauty is breath-taking, and the fresh, clean air, the oceans and mountains within a couple hours of each other, plus rivers and lakes and creeks and farms and OREGON IS AMAZING! And the same is true with our church and family and friends. Of course I know that our state and our community aren’t superior to others, but God has placed us there and given us a love for it. It’s HOME. There’s no place like it, right?? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it’s been great to get away and appreciate how much we love our life.