In less than three months we've made seven long road trips- "long" being between four and six hours. I know. It's not THAT long. Six hours is only six hours. We're not THAT far away.
It's just that even if you like traveling, and you LOVE seeing your family, six-ish hours on the road is its own kind of exhausting.
Parenting kids that are buckled in to car seats is a whole 'nother game.
Keeping the calm when no one has slept as much as they should or at the right time in three days borders on a circus act.
Trying to eat healthy- even while compromising my usual standards- out of a bag and a cooler, WITHOUT covering the car in seed butter or hard boiled egg, is work. It's totally doable, it's just a tiny bit sad that my kids know exactly what I'm going to buy every time we stop at a grocery store to pick up "car lunch". And that sometimes dinner is fast food and other times it gets forgotten until we pass them handfuls of nuts, dried fruit, and veggie straws.
It's fine. It's worth it. It's just exhausting, that's all.
This last trip was in part to celebrate my little brother's eighteenth birthday, and I am genuinely so glad we were there for that. I don't regret these trips. I don't bemoan them. I'm just also really over the high-gloss sheen we filter our life with before we show it to anyone- so, filtering aside, these trips are huge blessings that take a lot of physical energy and cause a lot of emotions.
The grace of God is abundant, the Holy Spirit gives us what we need, and Judah just pretends we live in the car, because frankly, I don't think he believes we live in our apartment. We've lived and stayed in so many places in the past five months (six places, at least ten transitions) that he's still waiting for us to suddenly move. At least the car is a constant, I guess. No wonder he loves car naps.
It's all an adventure. I keep saying that. I keep calling them adventures- because they are. They are not bad, and these new experiences are wonderful, and the different set of norms that come with being on the road are not bad, either.
But maybe because we've waited for about a year and a half to have our own little home to REALLY settle into, maybe being away from that home is a little harder for us. We LOVE our home. God has blessed us so far beyond what we ever expected, and He literally answered prayers and gave us this apartment. It was incredible. His provision is perfect, and we are so, SO thankful.
And...we like being here.
So while this spring and summer have included lots of trips, adventures, and day outings, we are breathing a deep sigh of contentment at the thought of this fall. Routines sound so nice. Slower, calmer weeks of intentional days sound beautiful right now. Even though it certainly won't be like that all the time, especially as Arthur's ministry will be getting busier, knowing that we can settle into learning how we do life here in Walla Walla is a refreshing prospect.
God gives us everything we need to glorify Him and be truly content regardless of our circumstances, and we have not been discontent with our adventuring.
But we do look forward to finding a bit of a rhythm.
It's just that even if you like traveling, and you LOVE seeing your family, six-ish hours on the road is its own kind of exhausting.
Parenting kids that are buckled in to car seats is a whole 'nother game.
Keeping the calm when no one has slept as much as they should or at the right time in three days borders on a circus act.
Trying to eat healthy- even while compromising my usual standards- out of a bag and a cooler, WITHOUT covering the car in seed butter or hard boiled egg, is work. It's totally doable, it's just a tiny bit sad that my kids know exactly what I'm going to buy every time we stop at a grocery store to pick up "car lunch". And that sometimes dinner is fast food and other times it gets forgotten until we pass them handfuls of nuts, dried fruit, and veggie straws.
It's fine. It's worth it. It's just exhausting, that's all.
This last trip was in part to celebrate my little brother's eighteenth birthday, and I am genuinely so glad we were there for that. I don't regret these trips. I don't bemoan them. I'm just also really over the high-gloss sheen we filter our life with before we show it to anyone- so, filtering aside, these trips are huge blessings that take a lot of physical energy and cause a lot of emotions.
The grace of God is abundant, the Holy Spirit gives us what we need, and Judah just pretends we live in the car, because frankly, I don't think he believes we live in our apartment. We've lived and stayed in so many places in the past five months (six places, at least ten transitions) that he's still waiting for us to suddenly move. At least the car is a constant, I guess. No wonder he loves car naps.
It's all an adventure. I keep saying that. I keep calling them adventures- because they are. They are not bad, and these new experiences are wonderful, and the different set of norms that come with being on the road are not bad, either.
But maybe because we've waited for about a year and a half to have our own little home to REALLY settle into, maybe being away from that home is a little harder for us. We LOVE our home. God has blessed us so far beyond what we ever expected, and He literally answered prayers and gave us this apartment. It was incredible. His provision is perfect, and we are so, SO thankful.
And...we like being here.
So while this spring and summer have included lots of trips, adventures, and day outings, we are breathing a deep sigh of contentment at the thought of this fall. Routines sound so nice. Slower, calmer weeks of intentional days sound beautiful right now. Even though it certainly won't be like that all the time, especially as Arthur's ministry will be getting busier, knowing that we can settle into learning how we do life here in Walla Walla is a refreshing prospect.
God gives us everything we need to glorify Him and be truly content regardless of our circumstances, and we have not been discontent with our adventuring.
But we do look forward to finding a bit of a rhythm.
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