I love this picture and the moment that it captures.
One of our adventures during this vacation was to visit our sister friend, a retired nun in her late eighties, at the Motherhouse in Leavenworth.
Sister has been my mom’s friend for years, but has gradually become a friend to our whole family. Even though she often writes us letters and visits with us at my folks’ house, we’ve never been invited to see her home at the grand Motherhouse.
This trip we had extra time to do things like take tours of nuns’ residence. And the kids truly enjoyed it. Catie especially is intrigued by all things nun (what vows Sister took, why, who becomes a nun and how the sisters live). In this picture, Sister is showing Catie a different perspective of the Motherhouse–where her outside window is.
As I struggle to put this Summer of 2012 Trip behind us, I’m thinking about perspective. Leaving home for so many days has given us a unique view of who we are and what we’re doing.
So, what are the answers?
1. We Have A Lot of Stuff….
Wow. There’s nothing like living out of a suitcase for three weeks to make you realize how little you need to survive. Actually, how little you need to thrive. We took a tenth of our clothes, a handful of toys, and little else. And then we came back to ALL THIS STUFF! It was a shock to look in our closets and Playroom and Art Room and huge kitchen and think, “Who needs all this STUFF?!” This week would be an ideal time to purge….before the kids got attached to all of it again and freaked out if we tried to rid our house of a broken crayon or 7,000.
2. We’re All Getting Older…
The kids are getting older…partly from the monumental challenge of sleeping in so many different beds in different environments and partly because they’re just getting more responsible. But we’ve done this trip with newborn twins and energetic toddlers and colicky babies (and all four of those at once), and it gets easier every year. They kids help out. Probably because of their experiences on all those other trips, they’re great helpers. Also, M and I are getting older. We learned that when we came home and crashed. Like unpack the car and then sleep like we’ve been hit by a train. Oh, and our parents are getting older. While this means that they’re all (basically) retired, their various health concerns are also keeping them more stationary. Lately our prayers are less for our kids’ health and more for parents’.
3. Life is good…..
The kids are fun. Our families are supportive. M and I love to work as a team. Our old, old dog can still handle a 3000+ road trip. People across the country (especially those in fast-food restaurants) smile and help. And there’s nothing like coming home.
Now to go and and purge the closets….
