Though I am deeply thankful for the beauty of winter and am always game to brave the cold for a good winter walk, my bones needed a bit of a thawing out this year! I spent all fall and the start of winter doing some intense care and health treatments for my body, and to celebrate, I gave myself a few days to escape to the sandy sunshine of California! And as if the beaches, clear skies, and warm sun weren’t enough of a treat, some of my very favorite people hosted me and even let me snap some photos of them!
This little getaway was far more of a gift than I could have imagined, and I was already expecting it to be abundantly lovely! I received the gift of long walks and jogs, sand to dig my feet in, rich conversations with friends that deeply and naturally know me, plenty of yummy meals, thriving succulents everywhere I looked, sweeping ocean views to stare at, so much laughter, and most of all not having to wear wool socks or my winter coat! I was reminded by that warmth I felt in being so deeply known by my friends of the way the Lord knows me so deeply and delights in being with me. My heart felt a piece of home that I had not felt in a while during my time away, and that sense of home brought an even greater sense of shalom to my being, a shalom I could take with me even when I headed back to the winter wonderland of Illinois. I tend to have a restless spirit, which often serves me well in fighting for wrongs to be made right and for the protection of my people, but sometimes my restless spirit leaves me with deep discontentment and more questions than answers. Sometimes my restless spirit sits on the backburner of my mind at a constant medium heat all day and distracts me from what is in front of me. Sometimes my restless spirit even tries to lead me away from the Lord and toward my own earthly desires. I have to work hard to rein in this restless spirit, especially when I travel to beautiful places that lack windchills and have friends whom I would love to be closer to. So I was especially surprised by the deep peace I felt in California, not anxiously thinking about the end of the trip or what I was missing at home, and even more delightfully surprised by the peace I felt in returning home. There were tears, definitely lots of big sobbing tears, in the returning, but there was a steadiness in my tears as well, knowing I was going to where God has called me to for this season of life.
I am so thankful for the gift I received in this long weekend trip. The space God gave me to be with him and let him peel another layer of my often restless heart was such a balm. As I returned, the season of Lent was beginning, and I felt so wonderfully prepared to enter the season with great clarity from the Lord. I believe I will consider a yearly pre-Lent retreat to the West as part of my yearly spiritual practices!
