come apart & rest awhile...

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 
and I will give you rest." -Jesus, Matthew 11:28 (NIV) 
 
There's just something about coming away from real life for a while...

I've pretty much been living in my swimsuit & flip flops for a week.  Make up doesn't matter... messy hair doesn't matter... the fact that my nose is covered with freckles & my front two teeth are crooked doesn't matter.

The cruel inner voice I sometimes battle has been silent & the poor self-image that sometimes rears it's ugly head has been quiet...

Because what DOES matter is happening right now. In this moment.

Its happening while I have coffee with my husband in my sweatpants on our cottage porch. It's holding his hand as we walk down the beach at sunrise. It's in sharing our deepest thoughts & dreams as we listen to the ocean breeze in bed at night. 

It's in swimming in the pool with my daughter & not caring what I look like in a swimsuit. It's in picking up seashells with her on the beach & shopping for souvenirs for her girlfriends in the little shops downtown. It's in having ice cream & laughing when we lose half of it on the sidewalk. It's the way she presses into me for a hug or grabs my hand as we walk.

It's in watching our boys play together & laugh together even though they are mostly grown... Ok... So they are grown... I may be a little bit in denial.

It's having precious time with my parents, being able to really talk with them in person. It's in  listening to my daughter-in-law as she shares her faith story with my mom & seeing them both talk & laugh with their grandchildren.

It's in watching our son read scripture in the church where he & our daughter-in-law minister. It's seeing their new apartment & playing with their dogs. It's in the way my daughter-in-law looks at my son & the way he loves her.

It's in witnessing our younger son's engagement & celebrating this new relationship with him & his fiancé. It's in knowing that he is at peace with his life & his path.

It's in many precious little moments I might have missed had I not truly left the cares of my real life behind. It's the blessing of coming apart & resting awhile...

Our family... Florida 2014

“Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was in nostalgia, 

nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, 

 but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now.” 

― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea