Lessons in Retreat

As a lot of people who work in ministry do, we live our lives in semesters.  In our house the Spring semester is our hardest time of the year.  Zach is insanely busy at work which means most days the only time he sees our kids is after they are already asleep.  Having lived this life for a while we realized that we need time, in the midst of the chaos, to retreat together as family.   It was a year ago that we booked our weekend away and I had been counting the days.

Last Thursday we loaded up the car, checked Zoe out of school and headed up to Sacramento, NM for a couple of days of fun with the family and (per doctor's orders) some rest and relaxation.  I can proudly say that our agenda was met, with a little help from our Father.  He sent some glorious rain on Friday which kept this accident prone pregnant lady indoors and out of harms way.

Enjoying the beautiful weather.

 

One thing we did do, before the rain began, was take the kids up on a little hike to a place called Serenity Peak.  We took our time heading up and once we got to the top, we just sat on the benches and chatted for a while.  It was so serene (see what I did there?), for a brief moment.

Serenity Peak with the family.

My darling daughter of five years was always such a sweet thing.  We never had to really deal with the terrible toddler years with her, just some stubbornness.  It seems she was storing up all of her past tantrums to unleash on us once she started school.  While she is close to perfection at school, when she comes home its battle royale time at Bechtold Manor.  She chose a moment, coming down from Serenity Peak, to express this, and boy, did she express.

It started with a stumble, which lead to her standing there screaming like she was seriously maimed and refusing to take one step further.  We calmly (at first) told her that she must calm down, her injury was not serious, and she could, in spite of her proclamation that she could never move again, make it down the mountain.  We would take a few steps, turn wait for her, and she would scream bloody murder and take one measly little step.  This continued for a while, even after her announcement that she had to potty "so bad" which, regardless of what a sane person might think, did not result in her choosing to suck it up and start walking.  Finally, when mommy and daddy were close to their breaking point, little brother stepped up to save the day.

Little sweet, almost three year old Noah, looked up the hill at his big sister, screaming like a banshee, and calmly proclaimed, "I'll go get her."  He trucked himself up there, gave his sister a comforting hug, took her by the hand and lead her down the hill to us.  It was the sweetest sight and it humbled me.

As parents Zach and I try to teach our children to have strength, to make wise choices, and to be good examples for others.  Sometimes, in the midst of these lessons we forget that we also need to teach them compassion for others, especially those who may not be receiving compassion from anyone else.

I've previously blogged about how I know I have a weakness when it comes to showing others compassion, as well as allowing myself to receive it from others.  My husband preached a sermon on Sunday, which I didn't get to hear much of (pesky kids :) ) but in which he spoke about how important it is that we always show love to others and allow them to show love to us in return.  It's about humbling ourselves.

Our time in the mountains was indeed refreshing, allowing us to connect again as a family and to rest our bodies, but, as usual, I came away from this time of no distractions, learning a lesson from my little ones.

May you also find time to refresh, rejoice, and perhaps, learn something...

I am finding that lately it is hard NOT to be happy.  I used to find trying to be happy as a chore, a task I tried to force my self to do.  The past year has had a lot of challenges.  It was a year ago this weekend that Zach moved to New Boston, leaving the kids and me in Plainview.  I have a difficult time believing it was just one year ago.  In this past year we have moved twice, both times to homes I had never seen, gotten pregnant, then lost a pregnancy and had the task of acclimating to new home, new town, new jobs, new church, and new friends...twice.  Wow, just typing that makes me weary.  Yet, even while reflecting on all the trials we have faced, I know that we have been so blessed.  I know, without even the shadow of a doubt, that we have gone where we were supposed to go, done what we needed to do.  I can also say that I am probably at peace more now than I have ever been before.

On another note, life has been trucking along as usual.  We are trying still to get used to some kind of routine.  With our busy schedule I have to remind myself to have fun too. Saturday, even though there are about a million ongoing projects at the house, we chose to delay them a little longer and enjoy the beautiful day with our children.  We drove up to the Organ Mountains and enjoyed a hike and picnic at Dripping Springs.  Once we got it through to Zoe that the hike wasn't about the destination or about the time it took to get there, we had a nice afternoon, relishing in God's mighty creation.  Zoe even claimed to have seen "Baby Jesus" in a rock formation. :)

Sunday was Wesley Sunday at our new church home.  I was very impressed with the services put on by these students.  I know that Zach was very proud, which he should be, he has some amazing kids in that program.  The Wesley student president gave the message, reminding us to not wear our religion as an accessory.

Catching up on cleaning and laundry today.  We are planning a trip to Plainview on Thursday and it would seem prudent to have clean clothes to wear. ;)

Wishing you all peace and happiness...