Some Time Away

The Family Fair and Roundup is over. And it was a great success. In spite of the rain that our land NEVER gets, in spite of the cold temperatures that our land NEVER has this time of year, in spite of the LAKE that formed in the arena causing us to move the team roping and rodeo activities to a different location, and in spite of my poor pastor/husband being sick. We slept with our bedroom window open on Saturday night and every 30 minutes or so we would wake up and say something like, "It's still raining." or "It's raining harder now." It was hard to not be discouraged. We kept telling God, "This IS all about you, you know. Do you really want it to rain right now?". We don't pretend to understand the mind of God. He has His reasons. His ways are not our ways. And in the end the day was awesome. It stopped raining before the service began. We had hundreds of people show up to our outdoor service in the arena that never go to church. There were hundreds of people we didn't know. We ministered to them and to their children and we filled their stomachs with good food and their hearts with good preaching. We heard good music all afternoon. Our community loved it, everyone had fun and it will definitely be on our calendar again for next year. And now we are tired. And so we are definitely looking forward to this week. We are going away for a few days.

Every year all the pastors and spouses from our district spend a few days in the mountains together for a time of encouragement, catching-up, and fellowship. We stay here:

in rooms that look like this:


It is an amazing place and I am looking forward to it this year more than most. The best part is that we are actually staying a couple days longer after the conference by ourselves. This hotel caters to its customers and it is a delight to stay there. In fact, we have our women's retreat here every year too. In case you are wondering about how the male pastors do in such a feminine setting, don't worry. Our actual meetings and meals take place in the rustic church campground a couple of miles down the road. They get their fill of stuffed deer heads, dirt trails, and hunting stories! But at the end of the day we retire to the beauty and elegance of our very own plush room. It is heavenly! I am bringing some cross stitch to work on some Christmas projects and a couple of books that are on my Fall Into Reading list. It will be good. I am not cooking. I am not doing dishes. I am not cleaning or bathing dogs. I am not doing laundry. I am sleeping on clean sheets and using clean towels every day that someone else has laundered, folded and put away. I am very happy about this. I plan to return rested, refreshed, and renewed. See you then!