away to the mountains

Away to the mountains for some long-desired rest and study and family time. How grateful am I?

Today our clan of four will be driving down to West Virginia and our plan is to arrive in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina tomorrow afternoon. We're excited about how God has provided this lovely, remote home where we'll be house sitting (and dog sitting) for the next couple of months.

We enjoyed the chance to connect with some family and friends in Southern Ontario over the last few days before we're en route. Actually, we've put over 1000 km on the car already just doing that. Good thing we just finished major repairs on the Subaru!

It probably sounds funny to hear it, but I see God going before us in so many ways these days, including the fact that our car stopped working in early January. The timing was perfect. I would much rather to have had to do that work with a local mechanic we know and trust than to be stuck in a motel at some small town in the States, waiting for a week or two for car parts to come in! Our mechanic actually called us a couple of days after the work was done and said that he'd like us to bring in the car one more time just to check it over and make sure the work looks great before our big trip -- free of charge -- even took the wheels off to check the brakes. Who does that?? And there are so many other ways that God has been providing for us as we prepare for this next chapter. (Thank you again to those of you who have been part of that generosity. We're feeling very blessed.)

Yesterday we returned from Haliburton where we were able to spend some time with Tim's mom. This was particularly important to us since she has been in hospital most of the last few weeks, battling a severe infection in her leg that isn't giving ground easily. She was able to come home for a few hours so we could visit there on Thursday, and then we took the girls to see her in the hospital one more time before we left yesterday. We were all grateful for the time together. And it was a pretty good trial run for the next two days in the car....

Speaking of the girls in the car, I think we're as ready as we can be for the next 14 hours of travel. Eliana is not one for napping well in the car (slept for 10 minutes of her 2 hour nap yesterday!) and finds it especially tough to be restricted for so long, so we've got a few bags of tricks prepared. Snacks. Check. Music. Check. (Thanks, Roes, for introducing us to Tom Chapin -- we're loving it!) Story CDs. Check. EyeSpy cards to keep us looking out the window and chatting about what we see. Check. Small toys and treats wrapped like presents to add the extra element of surprise... not to mention the extra two minutes it takes to unwrap them! Check. Laptop with adapter for the cigarette lighter so we can play movies. Check. (I once wrote a satirical song about our extreme consumerism in which I poked fun at people who had DVDs in their vans. I am one of them now. Unashamedly. Well, except for the van part. Haven't converted there yet.)

Some of you have been asking what we're looking forward to during this next chapter of our lives. I know this is officially Tim's sabbatical but I am officially taking one too. (You can do that when you're self-employed.) Tim and my goals would be similar. But I will just try to articulate it for myself here...

Rest. A dramatically slower schedule. I haven't known a quieter life for any extended period of time, since, well, I can't remember. I think Tim has been needing this kind of rest for several years now. I look forward to seeing what kind of long-term energy and enthusiasm will come to my wearied and wonderful husband in a few months' time.

Spiritual renewal. I have become a human doing and would like to return to a human being. I think there will be great value for me in detaching my value from my activity... to have a season of life where I am not 'productive' -- at least not in the traditional sense of busyness -- and to rest in knowing that my value comes not from what I do, but from Who I belong to.

Family time. I am looking forward to a season of more intentional time with my beautiful family. Looking forward to giving the gift of attentiveness to each other. When the pace of life goes as quickly as it does for us, Tim and I can be like two ships passing in the night. To have a season of life where we can have more than one night a week together (and to not have to spend that coordinating our schedules or talking about how to best care for people) will be such a gift. I also think there will be great value in getting to spend more intentional time with Maia.... for reasons I'll get into another day.

Reading. I love the idea of reading. Always have. But haven't really come to love reading until recent years and then haven't had the time I'd like to devote to it. It was hard to widdle down the list of non-fiction I would be bringing. And fiction is a newer appreciation for me and I've brought a handful of those to enjoy as well. Between Tim and I (and Maia's school books), we have two full boxes of books. I think it works out to about a book a week. Oh, did I mention that |I am officially homeschooling Maia until May? It came as a bit of a surprise. Just before we left, I learned that since Maia will be absent for more than 15 consecutive days, she actually needed to be unregistered from the school. I think the secretary was as surprised as I was! No problem... we had a tonne of workbooks and activities planned anyways.

My reading list (minus a couple that didn't make it in the picture)

Tim's reading list... far more ambitious than my stack!

Rejuvenation. Some time to explore new places, new ideas, new people (though not many!). To be creative in new ways. (I'm not taking any instruments, but have brought paints and canvasses with me.) To 'wake up, so that we can be part of waking others up', as Tim has been putting it. And to be free of most of our responsibilities for a while. Tim has been in ministry for a decade now (mainly as a coach of leaders), and I have carried hundreds of people close to my heart and been a 'pastor' of sorts (by gifting and calling, not profession) for most of my adult life. We love the life God has given us. And we are thoroughly poured out. So some extended time to be poured back into -- more than just a vacation -- is something I am so grateful for. I must confess, though, that I really don't know what it looks like yet to continue to hold dear so many people that come to mind so often AND also embrace this distance between us for this season. I'll be navigating that one as we go, depending on that still, small voice along the way. I love this verse from Isaiah 30. It seems so fitting today.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it."

Tim and I also stumbled on a great quote by Mahatma Ghandi yesterday that seemed so fitting:

There is more to life than speeding it up.

I have a hunch that this next chapter of life will be more valuable for us than we actually imagine it will be -- now, but also in the long run. And I guess that would be my prayer to the God who loves to do "more than we could ask or imagine"... that He would have His way in our hearts and minds and do whatever good things in us that He hopes to do.