Family Bonding

Rain, rain.....I have never been in Paris with so much rain. Each day begins sunny and very quickly turns rainy and cool. We did not really plan on so much rain, except for having two umbrellas....but it did not deter us from visiting the Tour Eiffel and the Sewer Tour of Paris. Note: Rick Steves, Lutheran and travel guide extrodinairre, recommended the tour. But, he neglected to share how awful it smelled and that you see raw sewage while underground. Needless to say, my family will forever say "I would rather....[insert own negative experience]... than go on the sewer tour." For Sean, it was spending an entire day locked in a bathroom with only cereal to eat. For Seth, it was walking in the cold rain....

And is this not one of the reasons we experience things with those we love? This time of bonding and shared memories connect us as a family more deeply....

It is wonderful to be able to have this time with the boys while they are 8 (almost...) and 12. They are both traveling so well...Sean is perfectly content walking for miles as long as he knows he has my attention and can talk and tell me his thoughts without interruption. Seth became of videographer while Sean narrates what we are doing.

Day Two in Paris

Time is such an interesting thing. It was at about 2 in the morning and my entire family was awake. We didn't fight it, just did some things and then at about 5 am went back to sleep. My plan was to be at the Louvre by 8:30 am....but we ended up all sleeping until 9:30. So change of plans....we went on a boat tour of the Seine, wandered through Notre Dame, visited Centre Pompidou, and the boys had their first french ice cream. C'est ci bon.

I had told the boys that my first time at Notre Dame I had lit a candle and prayed for peace in the world. The boys each wanted to say a prayer, too, and so we bought candles and lit them and held hands to pray. Sean prayed his "normal" prayer, thanking God for everything....and then he shyly added , "and we pray for Peace."

World peace....hard to imagine. How might this ever be? Is it too much to pray for? Yet, what a travesty if we do not pray and then act for peace.

May the God of peace be with you all.

Traveling to Paris

Well, we have made it to Paris. The boys were excited and everything at the airports went very smooth: no lines, great seats, even a good dinner in the air. We ran into a few small snags once we got to our apartment: the woman meeting us was not there, we did not have a cell phone, I incurred a huge charge when changing some money.

But we finally were settled and took a brief rest before walking through the Gardens of Tuileries, buying a French phrase book to help me remember my years of studying the language, and then experiencing Des Champs Elysees. We also enjoyed several very fine cups of coffee! (I was surprised to find that there are even Starbucks in Paris...I had no idea....not that I will go there, the French Brasseries and Cafes are too amazing!).

I have been amazed at the boys and how well they are traveling, especially with so little sleep. But now it is 8:30 pm in France (our bodies say 1:30 am) and they are asleep. Added bonus...we have access to the internet in our place (now if we can just find the corrected adapter).

All in all, my prayers were answered for the day: no issues on the flight, decent apartment rental, and my family is experiencing the wonder of Paris.

Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning's End

I can't beleive it has been almost a week since I have had a chance to sit and ponder. Where to begin? Well, first off,Washington Sate is amazing. So green, so glorious. I had put in for my firs call in the Pacific NW...I think I always knew I would love the area.

The purpose in my trip to Washington was to visit a remote Lutheran retreat center called Holden Village. It's strength and difficulty is the remoteness of it within the Cascade Mountains. Amelia and I discovered late on Saturday that no buses were running on Memorial Day, the day we were planning on getting to Holden. So we changed plans and rented a car. This meant we were able to drive through the gorgeous mountains to get to the boat dock before taking a 2 1/2 hour boat cruise to Lucerne, where Holden's school bus met us and transported us up to over 3000 feet elevation where the camp is located.

No surpise, the most common visitor to Holden after people from Washington, are people from Minnesota. We ended up meeting some wonderful people, including former classmates of mine from Wartburg Seminary and two counselors from Camp Wapo.

I spent four days reading, hiking, sitting, talking, learning how to use a pottery wheel, walking the labyrinth, and enjoying evening vespers. My favorite time of worship, though, was on a boat on Lake Chelan with my ipod listening to "I could sing of your love forever" while feeling the sun on my face and looking at the majestic peaks roll by. God is mighty indeed!

On Friday, we returned to the Seattle area via a differnet route...this time traveling close to an elevation of 5000....with waterfalls cascading around every corner. I had some time before my flight, so I drove down to Tacoma and looked for the campus of Pacific Lutheran College....but to no avail. So I returned to Sea-Tac Airport and had a nice flight watching my newest favorite movie, "Twilight."

I will spend some more time late rereading my journal entries and writing about what all took place for me while at Holden....but for now...this is my update as I am anxously getting reading for the next leg of our journey...Paris!

Friendships

So it is my third day in Seattle and I am heading back to Pikes Place Market and the original Starbucks. Yesterday at the City Center and Space Needle there was a Folk Life Festival...great surprise. It was sort of like a mini-State Fair with food and demonstrations and booths of hemp clothes (yeah Seattle). I also took the underground tour of Pioneer Square and learned about the beginning of Seattle (almost was named Duwumps).

So I was a typical tourist...but what is great is that I am spending this time with a good friend from Washington, D.C. Amelia and I met at my first call church and have been friends ever since. It was she who came over in the middle of the night to stay with Seth while Sean was born. It was she who actually went on vacation with my family and we had a crazy awful time. How wonderful it is to have friends that, even when we have not seen each other for a long time, we reconnect as if we had lunch yesterday.

How good is our God that we were not created to be alone, but in community, in relationship with others.

It has begun

So what does it mean be on sabbatical...I am finally discovering it! But I spent my first day traveling and worrying...worrying that Seth needs to return a library book, that I need to send a list of things to remember to my husband, and that my house will be a disaster when my mom comes to help with the boys. Worry...as if there are not more important things to worry about! And yet we are reminded by Jesus not to worry....hmmm....how do I stop it?

At lest I am no longer "in routnine." Today is a day of exploration, of new experiences, of time reconnection with a good friend. So I will hand my worries over to God and begin to trust in the unfolding of what sabbatical means.

Counting Down

As the countdown continues, I am still relatively calm about all that I have to do to finish getting ready to be on sabbatical. Other people have been asking me if I am crazy with all the preparations, but really, I'm not. I know that what needs to get done will, and that whatever doesn't...oh well. Plus, I have never been one to get too caught up in details when it doesn't really matter. Okay, maybe sometimes I like to discuss those minor details, but in the grand scheme of things, I know that God has my back.

I am getting excited, though, to experience what God has in store. Just as I am ready to spend some quality time with good friends, my sons, and my family. I pray that God bless this sacred time.