Much Needed Vacation

We just returned from a 10 day trip back to the east coast. We spent several days at my parent's lake house (as a family) and then Chip and I drove up to Philadelphia to spend a couple of nights ALONE! What a concept....as I know all of you with children can relate to.

But as far as vacations go, our recent trip back to the east coast marks probably the best trip we have ever had! And I don't say that too lightly given the fact that up until now my favorite places to vacation were Italy or St. John or anywhere exotic, anywhere that took us over-seas into a far off land!

That might sound snobby to some, but I LOVE to travel. Some people put money into flashy cars or gigantic houses, we love to spend it on seeing the world (back when we had money...when we both worked!). I am energized by seeing the world's most beautiful sites, whether man made or God's creation. The Sistine Chapel, the Old City in Jerusalem, the Colosseum, a deserted white sand beach, 100 year old sea turtles in the wild....the list could go on and on.

And there is NOTHING wrong with being passionate about traveling, but now a days, any time spent on vacation when we are together, when we are healthy and we are able to enjoy life...that is the most exotic place I want to be! Can you relate? What once was just a given in life, is now the very thing that brings the most joy? If you have suffered from post-partum depression, I know you know what I am talking about.

Our trip last week to Philadelphia marks the first time in at least 4 years that Chip and I went some place by ourselves...for more than a few hours that is! It marked the first time since before I was pregnant with Sydney that we spent time being together...real time together. Just lounging, sleeping in, reading, site-seeing, sitting at Starbucks just because we could and so on. And it marks the first time that we left Sydney in the care of others...since that fateful year!

Her first year of life was spent in the care of friends, family or just Chip by himself. There were very few times that all three of us were under the same roof...I could probably count on one hand the number of weeks we all spent in the same house that year.

I guess that is what made it so hard to leave her this time. We have relished being together over the last year and a half. She is now 2 1/2 years old and right about the time that she turned 1 is when things started to get better for me. So, we have just been getting used to being able to live our lives, to enjoy being healthy and to soak in all of the little things in life that are so precious.

I am sure you can understand why it was so hard for me to leave her. I had feelings of guilt. Why should I go away when I still need to make up for a whole year of not being there? And I had irrational fears of us "dying" and leaving her all alone. Or even worse, of something happening to Sydney and us not being there. How could I live with myself if something happened to her when I was not there?

But then a friend reminded me that God has ordained the days of our lives. He already knows how many hours and minutes we are going to be on this earth and I can't change it. So if God decided it was time for one of us to go "home" it wouldn't matter if we were sitting in our home in Sugar Land, Texas or out for a walk on the streets of Philadelphia. Somehow, there is a peace that comes in knowing someone else is in charge!

So by the grace of God, I had a great time and never stressed about it one time while we were aways. I knew Syd was having fun with my sister Shaena and her cousin Caitlyn. Plus she got to spend two full days with Grandpa and RaRa all by herself! We even called one time to talk to her (for some reason we thought she might need to hear our voices) and all she had time to tell us on the phone was that she ran naked through the sprinkler and she had to go!

"...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16


Thank you to my mom, dad, Shaena and Caitlyn for making our vacation happen!