Power Down

This past weekend, my son and I spent time with friends in a cabin at the Hot Springs over two hours away from our home and normal routine.  It's pretty amazing how even a small getaway trip can bless you in ways you did not anticipate.  I went on this weekend trip thinking the obvious; we would get time together, experience nature at its finest, take a breather from reality and come back feeling refreshed and ready to begin another week back to the same schedule as before we left.  Best part of all was that this weekend getaway was a gift from my friends in exchange for me babysitting while they went skiing.  We approached this weekend with excitement and a grateful heart for this tremendous blessing!

What we encountered was a completely exhausting weekend full of experiences with friends, little sleep, and spiritual encounters with blessings beyond our imagination.  My son was able to experience life in a cabin with 8 kids and 4 adults.  He had to adjust to many personalities, messes, frustrations and ultimately situations that tested his walk with the Lord.  At eight years old, I am beginning to witness his godly decisions even when he fails at first and then seeks forgiveness.  It was difficult to be unplugged from the world for me and it wasn't until I embraced that my cellphone wasn't catching a signal and my wireless internet wasn't either that I truly began to soak in all of my surroundings.  I woke early on our last day there simply overwhelmed with God placing us there at that exact time to encounter those moments.  As I stood on the porch looking out over the bustling stream amongst the trees and snow, I was taken aback by the beauty and intricacy of all God's creation.  I sang to Him, I cried tears of thankfulness, and most of all, I felt all of God's creation and beauty embracing me in my journey as a single mother.  I am strong and I am not walking this path alone.  I am cared for and am a child of the most powerful God.  He reminded me of His words in  Matthew 6: 25-34 in those moments.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

So amongst the day in and day out of the single parent routine, if you can, take some time to just sit and soak in all that God has created.  Absorb, truly absorb God's love for you,  your children and His promise to fulfill your needs.