Home Sweet Home

Psalm 126:1-6

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
 The Lord has done great things for us;
    we are glad.

 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like streams in the Negeb!
 Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
 He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

This past week we had the sweet treat of getting away as a family.  We traveled with Nic while he worked outside of Minneapolis. While it wasn't a true vacation, it was still a change of pace and a change of setting.  It required lots of preparation and packing for 7 Olsons and 2 foster sweeties who traveled with us. It required planning ahead, adjusting the lessons, and packing school work for 5 children.  It also required wiping our calendar clean of any appointments and finding someone else to cover our regular commitments at home and church for the week.  Truthfully, it is a lot of work to take nine people anywhere for six days.

Ultimately though, all the prep work was so worth it.  It was nice to be away from phone calls and from our regular schedule.  It was nice to be able to do school work in a different setting and at a different pace.  It was nice to be together sharing an adventure that we can look back on. Memories are the stuff that attachment is made of!  

Like the time in January 2015 that we stayed in a quaint cottage with a retro oven and pull-out stove just blocks from the beach.  Technically "just blocks from the beach" was as the crow flies, not on the boardwalk that actually led to the beach.  Like the time when I thought it might be a good idea to take a little hike to the beach to get some exercise and see the frozen waves.  Of course, I made everyone bundle up (hey, it's January) because I didn't check to see that it was almost 40 degrees outside.  I also didn't imagine that the boardwalk wouldn't be shoveled in January not knowing that the rest of the neighborhood is vacant in the winter. That "3-block" hike on the boardwalk to the frozen beach with a toddler and a baby through deeply drifted snow made me think we should take the longer sidewalk along the street on our return route, but little did I know that it was covered in glare ice.  So we shuffled home carrying a babe and sliding along with a toddler.  We returned home to the cottage just before dusk from an adventure that was much more intense than we had originally planned for our little outing.  It was crazy, and sweaty, and fun, and there just might have been a little crying and several kiddos doubting that I knew my way home on a route that was supposed to be easier than the drifted boardwalk.  But what a victory to say that we had survived this little adventure together!  And those memories are the stuff attachment is made of!

Yes, getting away from our regular setting and routine is so very good for us all once-in-a-while.  It clears the mind and helps us to see things in a different light.  It is especially good to get away when you get home and you hear the words, "It feels so good to be home!"