I'm back on the World Wide Internet (as Monk would say). We had an "outage" last Thursday and I've been without my internet since then (we had an internet connection at the beach house we rented last weekend, which is why I was able to update my blog). Other than Diet Coke and scrapbooking, the internet is my "must-have". It's not that I'm on it for hours at a time...I like to get on every couple of hours and check email, catch up on my favorite blogs and now that I have a blog...update it daily!
Our weekend at the beach was fabulous. You know those rare occasions when everything turns out exactly like you wanted it to (thank you Lord)...that's how it was on Friday when we left town. My husband is a UPS driver and rarely gets home before 7. He put in an eight-hour request but they don't always honor those...so I took him to work on Friday morning at 6 am (so I could just pick him up after work and we'd be on our way). By some fluke, the loader for his truck didn't show up so they asked if he wanted to start early and load his own truck...so he started almost two hours early. After work, I got the car loaded, dropped Shanna off at school (she's in the band and had to play at the football game) and picked Russell up at...5:05 pm. We were at the beach by 7:30...with a dinner stop included. I took the picture above through the front windshield while we were driving.
Time alone as a couple is so precious. Pastor George just preached about this last week. I know several couples who never take time together...never go on dates...the kids always come first. It's easy to get so wrapped up in our kids lives and all their activities that we lose ourselves in the process. There is so much pressure on kids now to not just excel in school, but to be involved in sports, extra-curricular activities, service projects, church activities, etc., but when does it become too much? When we adopted Shanna, we made the decision to be a couple first and then parents, not easy to do in this fast-food, drive through, work over-time, cell phones on all the time, stay connected, fill up your calendar world that we live in...so it was wonderful to just be a couple for a weekend.
Oceanside, Oregon is fairly remote, so we didn't have cell phone service, so no interruptions from our daughter (Natalie, a wonderful young woman from our church stayed with Shanna for the weekend). Russell and I have been married almost 26 years...I am so blessed to love and be loved by such a wonderful man...we have so much fun together...he really does complete me (he doesn't look like he's almost 50 years old does he!?).
If you've never been to the ocean, there's no way to describe how incredible it is...so calming, invigorating, beautiful, healing...I don't have enough adjectives to adequately describe the ocean - it truly is one of God's most beautiful creations (in my opinion). This weekend confirmed for both of us that we have a dream to live at the beach and to own a beach retreat home...so we're giving that dream to God. We would love to offer a comfortable, intimate setting...not just for scrapbookers and crafters...but a retreat home for couples, women's and men's groups, pastoral staff retreats, etc. I asked in an earlier blog post what you would want in a beach retreat home - and would still love to hear your thoughts on what you have loved or hated about a vacation home.
Do you have a favorite place that you escape to...somewhere that gives you the same sense of peace and renewal that the beach does for me? Happy Wednesday...it's good to be back on the net...
I sure missed you gf.. so glad u had the most wonderful time.. as I said, I'm so envious.. hugs
Posted by: bonnierose | September 24, 2008 at 06:15 PM