Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns
If you think Jesus would have come into your home that day and not issued a strong rebuke to the head of household, you are mistaken. These words of condemnation have been haunting me for days now. They aren’t all that different than the soundtrack I play in my head on an almost-daily basis. It’s…
I am nesting. On Saturday I emptied the refrigerator. Last summer’s homemade pickles in their jars. The bread ends that seem to multiply on every shelf. The eggs. The milk. The fruit and veggies. All of it sat on the floor or the counter as I carefully removed the shelves and wiped them down with…
I’ve heard that life is like a highway. And it definitely seems like that sometimes. The pace of life swirls around me at dizzying speeds. We’re all so busy. In such a hurry. Always somewhere to be, something else to do. I’m a get-to-the-point, get-there-quick kind of girl. I don’t like to waste time on…
We’re back in Illinois for two weeks. Our kids are growing up fast. And while we love the abundance of new and exciting adventures available to us in Pennsylvania, sometimes a little taste of nostalgia is needed.
Our mornings are pretty much our own these couple of weeks. Just because we’re on vacation doesn’t mean everyone else is. So, Tuesday my husband had the brilliant idea to take the kids on a hike. It’s one of our (his and mine) favorite activities and the couple of times we’ve taken the kids, they’ve enjoyed it too. Our hometown area offers all kinds of natural scenery and organized parks from which to enjoy the beauty. It was hard to pick one place to go, so we went with location. Closest to my parents’ house won.
We packed a bag and headed out to Franklin Creek State Natural Area. We passed the Franklin Creek Grist Mill on the way. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open. I haven’t been there since probably middle school. Both of our families spent significant portions of our childhood at Franklin Creek. It’s a simple yet beautiful area, and the day we went, it was almost deserted.
Here’s one little explorer who is ready to go. Both kids insist on carrying maps with them. Isabelle likes to follow along.
Franklin Creek is home to a spring, so we planned to hike at least to it. One of the nice things about this part of the park is it’s handicapped accessible with a nice paved walkway to the spring. So, the kids could run mostly free for the beginning part of the hike.
We also discovered a lookout area near one of the ponds in the park. We tried to capture a nice family photo of our hike.
What we got instead was more the reality. Oh well. At least it’s us to a T.
The walk to the spring isn’t long and we had all morning to kill, so we decided to trek on. The kids were in good spirits, we had snacks and drinks. The weather was perfect: cool, breezy and clear.
So, one by one (sort of) we crossed the spring and set off to explore more territory.
Corban blazes a trail and sometimes wanders into the weeds. Isabelle likes to dawdle and look at flowers, plants, trees and bugs, if we can see any.
The trail was full of obstacles in the form of downed trees and limbs, which was like a playground for the kids.
Little miss kept saying, “I have to go first because I’m the sister bear.”
So, she’d get a leg up and swing it over and climb down the other side. Not to be outdone, her almost 2-year-old brother would try, too. Unfortunately for him he’s been “gifted” with the long torso, short legs from his father’s side of the family. But it was funny to watch all the same.
I kept saying they’re going to be ready for boot camp. Just kidding. I think.
Limbo, anyone? Sometimes over just wasn’t good enough. Pretty sure they wanted Phil and me to go under it, too.
Overall, it was a blast. Our summer has been so packed with Phil’s schooling (last summer of seminary … what?!?!) that I feel like we’ve forgotten to have fun. So, I’m glad that we could have this little bit of family fun in the midst of our visit home to see family. Few things fill my soul like spending time with my three great loves. And it ended up being a 2-and-a-half hour hike. More than I’d planned on but fun just the same.
Hiking plus family equals satisfaction. I never really liked math, but this is one equation I could get used to.
Our family is visiting family for the next couple of weeks, so the My Loss Their Gain campaign will be on a bit of a break, at least blog wise. I can tell you what I have or haven’t eaten, how much I have or haven’t exercised, how guilty I do or don’t feel about it, but I won’t have a way to measure my progress. The scale, the specific one I use regularly, is one control in this whole weight loss challenge, so since we didn’t pack it in our suitcases, I’ll just have to be in suspense till we’re back home.
My husband did put us through a rigorous strength-training workout yesterday morning. My abs are feeling it today. But a birthday party and a birthday trip to the sushi buffet (yesterday and today) probably negate any work we’ve done on the exercise front.
My husband, my accountability partner for exercise and eating, will be away from me for a few days, so it’ll be up to me to keep up the work in his absence.
I. Can. Do. This.