Finding Balm in Gilead

Spiritually Speaking

In my post Tuesday, I made mention of some spiritual thoughts I've had since our pseudo vacation to the mountains....and now is as good a time as any to just dive on in.

We love the mountains. The majestic beauty combined with the cooler temperatures makes for a great getaway from our hot, treeless area of Texas. I do love our home and our state and the great flat expanse of where we live, but at this time of year the mountains are calling.

This year we decided to go to a different place from where we usually end up in the mountains, and so we chose our final destination fully aware of the major amount of time it would take to get there with two toddlers...but so what? - we're on vacation and we've got DVD's.

And really, it was a perfectly nice place to be with gorgeous views, yummy food, and the coolest gondola transport service that mesmerized my gleeful little children.

But there was something that J and I couldn't quite put our finger on, and it had to do with the feel or spirit of the place. I don't know, but there was a heaviness upon us as we wandered about town, checking out the local businesses and restaurants. Keep in mind that we were towing two toddlers along as well, with one quite irritable because of the double ear infection he was developing. So, that could be part of the "heavy" problem.

In fact, several things probably contributed to our perspective of the feel of things: we had just learned of the tragic death of a friendly acquaintance as we were driving the ten hours up there, and we also came upon the scene of a fatal accident while on the gondola to our hotel. Both of these events caused J and I to reflect on many things -  including the fragility of life and the fact that our times are in the Lord's hands.

I know this post is starting to sound like a bummer, but hear me out first....

All this is to say that yes....our hearts were heavy anyway with tragic news and also worry over our son......

But you know, as we left, we drove an hour over to another mountain town to eat lunch, and the intense heaviness we felt before had subsided considerably. What do you make of that?

I know you could say, "Well, Amy, just making progress by getting on the road to see the doctor back home probably relieved some of your anxiety and heaviness."

True.

You could also say, "Furthermore Amy, witnessing the aftermath of a tragic accident doesn't do much for any vacation place, so you probably just needed to leave on account of that, too."

True.

But J and I both agreed...something just didn't feel right about our vacation spot.

The views were awesome, the food was excellent, our hotel was nice, and the mountain air was refreshing..... but strangely, none of this was refreshing to our souls.

Maybe if Cash hadn't become ill and we could have stayed a little longer....then certainly we would have been refreshed and renewed.

Or maybe not.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spriitual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." - Ephesians 6:12

The Trip That Wasn't

I shouldn't be writing this post today...instead I should be coming home from a trip to the 70 degree mountains. It was a vacation that was to be filled with jeep rides, swimming, and all sorts of eating extravanganza.

But here I am, writing to you, back from a 48 hour round trip to the mountains, 20 hours of which were spent on the road.

This is what happens when you have a little boy who may or may not have water in his ears from an afternoon at the pool two days BEFORE the vacation....which led to a double ear infection ON THE TRIP - no doubt compounded by the altitude of our destination.

The ill-fated road trip began Friday morning as we packed up the car for a much needed vacation away from the 105 degree heat of our small town. The kiddos were settled all snug in their carseats ready for a road trip adventure into the beautiful San Juan mountains....destination Telluride. Raisin bars were made. Cooler was packed. Atlas was open and ready to guide.

True, the kids had been a little puny the night before, but I dosed them up with plenty of vitamin C, cod liver oil, and acidolphilus. By Friday morn, they were in good shape.

Do your kids always try to get sick before leaving on a vacation?

Anyway, we had a ten hour drive ahead of us...thank goodness for the DVD player and our assortment of Disney movies. Thirty minutes into the trip we passed through a nearby town, and Gracie asked if we were at our hotel yet.

Oh boy.

Ten hours later, with many "Are we there yet?" comments, multiple cries of indignation at the endless driving, and a particularly perilous shortcut through Ophir pass - which incidentally is NOT shown on the map (and for good reason) - we arrived at our mountain retreat...with views spectacular and weather divine.

Friday night was not good for our beloved Cashman, who coughed and moaned into the wee hours of the morning. However, Cash did pretty good on Saturday, hardly showing signs of the night before; but by that evening, we knew he wasn't getting better.

Thus Sunday morning, after an excellent breakfast in town complete with ORGANIC coffee, we axed our jeep ride to Ouray, checked out of our hotel, and headed for home down a long winding highway. Our little boy was droopy-eyed, irritable, sneezy, and his cough was getting worse. It was hard to watch.

You know what else was hard? Having to tell Gracie that she wasn't going to get to swim, wasn't going to get to go in the jeep, and instead was going to have to go home. I know she'll get over it, and probably won't even remember this in six months, but still - her little face was so disappointed.

But you do what you have to do. And Cash had to get home and see a doctor.

However, Gracie may think twice before ever agreeing to go on "vacation" again. She may just have us drop her off at a grandparent's house instead.

To conclude this pitiful post, we arrived home at 2:30 AM Monday, and Cash saw the doctor Monday afternoon. We are now on a healthy antibiotic for his ears, and pretty much hanging out here at La Casa.

I have several more vignettes to tell about this pseudo vacation, including some thoughts on a spiritual level about the "feel" of certain places that you visit....but I'll spare you the extra time today since you've endured this lengthy dissertation of a trip gone awry.

Happy Trails Friends!