I was "interviewed" for my SS class' newsletter recently and one of the questions asked what would I choose to do with my day if I were granted a day off from work and could do whatever I wanted. Right now the answer to that question would be this - go camping somewhere beautiful like Turner Falls. (I know it's in Oklahoma, but I guess even Oklahoma has a couple pretty spots...) I would start out the day all by myself. I would take my Bible, my journal, a pen, and fun book (and probably a water bottle) and then go take a hike. I would find a nice spot and sit and read and pray. Just relax and take all the time I wanted, in no rush. Then in the afternoon or evening I would want to be joined by a big group of friends and we could play games, roast marshmellows over the fire (What's a camping trip without a really good fire?), talk, joke, and laugh.
While there are unfortunately no camping trips on the horizon, I am going on my first real vacation in a couple of weeks and I can hardly wait! My family is going to Arkansas together and though I am looking forward to spending time with them, talking, playing card games, chasing my 5 year old little brother around, etc. I am also really looking forward to having some quiet time.
Why am I so eager for some peace and quiet? Well, the last 6 months have been a bit of a whirlwind. I started hanging out with the "Super Six" around then. Never have I felt so accepted and loved by people outside of my family. For the first time in my life I had friends with whom I could completely and totally be myself. I loved it! We did everything together! But life is all about change and nothing stays the same for very long. Summer came. One of my best friends moved away. Another was gone all summer long. New people joined our crowd. People started coupling off. In essence, life happened and things changed. And obviously not all of the changes were bad things at all and, in fact, most were great; they were just simply different.
About that same time things got crazy in several other areas of my life as well. My roommate and I had to decide what to do about renewing the lease in our apartment. We went through several different plans before that was all settled. Things were very much up in the air for a couple months just trying to figure out where I was going to live and who I was going to live with. Now I can't wait for August to get here because my sister is going to be my new roommate!
My job also went through some major changes. On my birthday we were told that we were having a meeting with the CEO the next morning. There had been a few warning signs and we were all afraid it meant that our branch was closing. It was. Thankfully none of us lost our jobs, but we did have immediate changes. For the next two months I did not go longer than 2 weeks working with the same person in my branch. Plans were tossed around, set, changed, changed again... There were points when I felt like all I knew for sure was where I was supposed to show up the following morning. In the end though it has been a great experience. Soon I will be in a new department with lots to learn and a great chance to grow. It couldn't be better!
So combine all this craziness with the fact that I graduated in 2009 and moved cross-country twice in a 13 month span of time, worked through the "vacations" for both jobs in 2010, and have typically worked two jobs at around 50-55 hours a week, and you can surely see why I am looking forward to vacation and some downtime!
I think I am ready for a chance to experience Psalm 46:10 a little bit.
"Be still and know that I am God."
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