Berenbrock Stay-cation 2014
Last December when I bought my 2014 calendar I was determined not to get over booked this year with things and photoshoots. I drove myself crazy last year and feel like I missed a lot. So this year I crossed off certain weeks in the calendar where we would vacation...even if it's home. Long story short but we were very sad when Brian's request for vacation got denied. However...we are choosing to make the best out of it and not stress with the things that need to get done or the places we could be or the people we could see...we are trying to have a relaxing stay-cation...right here in our everyday lives.
It couldn't have fallen on a more perfect week. Last week and weekend were crazy busy and I kept telling myself to "push through" Sunday morning service (being there at 7am for worship practice) and then it starts.
If you haven't caught up on our lives a little here's a little bit of it. The realtor comes tomorrow to take pictures of our house. Tomorrow. There is a ton to get done and thankfully for pictures I can shove things into closets and be done with it ;) ... but still there is that sense of finalizing things. The reality of moving out of the house that has all of it's "firsts" in it...and the house that my dad and my husband built with their hands. There is a perspective house we are looking at and it's smaller. Ultimately it's in God's hands and if he wants us here we will stay here and we are confident that He will open the doors to the next house. Brian asked me last week, "so are you prepared to answer people when they scrutinize you for wanting to go smaller with a growing family (no I am not pregnant but we are still waiting to adopt)?"
Living more simple. It's so counter-cultural...but it's my dream. I don't need or want a huge fancy house that can host big parties or has multiple empty rooms. I want something where my family is kind of crammed into so we can see more of each other. I don't want a house where there is so much room I don't see my kids for hours at a time...I want them there. I don't want a place that takes me days to clean...I want a place of retreat where cleaning is quick, simple and gives me more time in life. I want to live more simple and I know "bigger and better" screams success...but I measure success differently than the world. Success to me is running the race of faith and running it well. Do I fall? absolutely...daily actually. Success to me is raising my kids to have a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Success to me is having a love relationship with my kids. Success to me is having a marriage built on Christ and continually falling deeper in love with my husband. Success to me is less things, less scheduled, less to-dos and more life, relationships and time in the Word. Will I fail and still over schedule and still let anxiety creep in? yes...but it's my goal to work on it...daily.
Living more simple is a discipline...it's a life change...it doesn't just happen...it's intentional. This past weekend we really focused on time with relationships and it was so rewarding...
We didn't focus on the time. We layed out on rafts, laughed hard about having to change a bathing suit under water (wink wink Dana), we tubed and laughed, we ate well and splashed, we watched the sun start at one end of the lake and end at the other...we watched fireworks, roasted marshmallows, fished, plugged our ears and snuggled on the couch.
We canoed down the river and soaked in God's glory. The men fished again and the women rowed and laughed...observed and fell a little more in love watching our husbands fish...
We declared Sunday a "family nap" afternoon and soaked that in...a pretty good view in my opinion...
I cherished time with this man and his wife...knowing that the skin is growing older and the walk is getting harder...but rejoiced as I watch the inner child in him come out by blowing stuff up in our front yard...
We experimented with smore's a little...
and yesterday we went cherry picking...
and I measure success when my 8 year old says this..."mom remember when we talked about seeds being like God's Word? well I was thinking that when I pick Cherries that they are like God's people and there are some mushy ones and maybe that is Satan trying to attack God's people"...good enough for me little thinker....
We are making cherry tarts and pie filling and raspberry jam, drinking sweet iced tea
and enjoying life!
Stay tuned...I'll be documenting our family "stay-cation" throughout the week!
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