Renewing. Part 1

I have so many things to write about that I'm not even sure where to begin. Do I start with 'I have never felt so refreshed and renewed' after a vacation or do I begin with 'I have been through some of the hardest days I have seen in a long time'? I choose to start with the 'refreshed-renewed' part. It's more upbeat.

Vacations are seldom 'refreshing' or 'renewing'. Usually they include major travel, masses of people, amusement park rides, food on a stick, plenty of activity, and very little rest. This vacation was different. Completely. It included minor travel, very few people, no amusement park rides, stick-less food, very little activity, and much needed rest.

We rented a cabin at a nearby lake. Sight unseen. We had heard they were really nice, but honestly had no idea. We didn't know whether our cabin even had a view of the lake. We rented it and prayed for the best. God is good. We arrived at the cabin to find that not only did we have a view of the lake, but it was located right on the lake. The scene from our deck was breath taking and permanently etched into my mind.

We spent day after day waking early to enjoy the stillness of God's creation. I spent countless hours unable to pray anything other than 'Thank you, Lord. You are sooooo amazing.' While I only spent short periods of time in His Word daily, His presence was so strong. I could feel Him in the breeze that swept through my hair. I could hear Him in the sound of the wakes crashing against the rocks. I could see Him, in all of His glory, as I looked up into the starry sky every evening. I felt so close to Him. It was incredible.

Our days were filled with giggles as grandpa took the kiddo's tubing on his boat. There were quiet moments and, well, not so quiet moments. We spent the days and evenings just enjoying uninterrupted togetherness. Friends and family stopped by and spent some days and nights with us, which made the moments even more special.

Thursday.....we had to leave. None of us wanted to. We even tried to rent the cabin for another day or two, but it had already been rented out. We came home where the hustle and bustle of every day life began immediately. I didn't have to go back to work until today and as the week drew to a close I found myself longing to be back at the lake. Longing for God to just rewind time.

As I sat last night reflecting on the week, I found that, while I was sad that vacation was officially ending, I felt completely renewed...ready to take on the world. In a sense time seemed to fly by and at the same time it seemed as though, for the first time ever, I had actually been on a vacation. Going to work this morning wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. But...........

Today was harder than I could have imagined.

More about that later.