Traveling to be reminded of the Maine thing

I'm not sure I can express what this trip meant to me, but you know I'm gonna try. It feels very similar to the experience from last October when I took a weekend of kerith by the water and felt refreshed, but different. 

This trip for me feels special. While that trip was a trial and a learning for me, of being by myself, this one was more about trusting God and being refreshed by nature and a good friend. Just so you understand, I have to explain why this friend is special. 

I met Madison when she was all of 23 and had been out of college for all of a year when she started working in our office. If you had told me three years ago that one of my close friends would be someone 20 years younger than me, I would have thought you were crazy. Madison may be young in body, as she whoops my butt when it comes to physical performance in the gym and on the hiking trail, but she is an old soul with a wise heart that points you straight to Jesus. 

This trip was a serendipitis event that felt orchestrated by a God who understands our need for community and relationship. I have been saying since the end of February that I needed to plan another get away for myself. I felt the pull again to step away from work, house, children and everyday life and have some refreshing. 

Madison went through something difficult recently. I called her two weeks ago to ask a work question and as we started talking this trip began to develop, and two hours later I did one of the most impulsive things I  have ever done and bought a plane ticket to Boston so I could go to Maine for four days and have a little retreat with her. 

I found the cutest little Airbnb on the water on the coast of Maine and she picked me up at the airport. We spent three solid days hiking, talking, singing, laughing, crying and sorting out life together. We built fires, looked at the ocean, shared stories, and almost barfed on a ferry at sea. There were many times of sitting in silence in nature and feeling God hold us close as we basked in the trees, the water, the sunshine, the mountains, the flowers, the foxes, and the birds. 

What a vast, beautiful world God created! I am so thankful for people he has placed in my life. 

I am riding back to the airport on a train which feels like such a romantic way to travel back and be able to summarize this trip. As the train rumbles down the tracks, past the beauty of the land of Maine, I am able to reminise on this time I had to get away.

I am reminded again how important it is to slow down and enjoy right where I am in life. 

I am reminded that whatever thing is happening or trial is tripping us up that we cannot just skip over it. We have to wait and let God and those closest to us walk us through it. 

I am reminded that we just have to do the next right thing. We don't have to know all the steps after that. I am a planner and I want to know what is coming, but only God knows what I'm headed towards. 

I am reminded that this blog is important for me to document, process and share the stories from my little life. 

I am reminded how important it is to have people in your life that you can pour into, but also that you need people who pour into you.

I am reminded how good it is to take risks, go outside your comfort zone, and to get out there and show the world what you are made of. To stand at the top of the mountain and bare it all!

I am reminded that God is Love. God is Sovereign, God is Faithful, and God is Wise. I also was reminded that sometimes different ones of these charcteristics are easier for me to accept than others. 

I am reminded that sometimes the hardest parts of our story, the parts that we dislike the most are the ones that God will use the most. 

I am heading home refreshed. I can't say I am ready to face the laundry, grocery store or even getting up for work tomorrow. I know the same loneliness and hard things will face me back in my home.  However, I am so thankful for this time I got to step away from it all, slow down and remember.