We went away for a long weekend. It was our first time away for more than a night or two since we moved to the farm in 2016. With so many birthdays this month, it felt like a good time to step away, hit pause, and regroup together. Little did we know when we first planned it how much we would actually need the reset. God is good like that; He likes to let you think one thing is going on, then surprises you with something even bigger and more meaningful.
We were blessed to spend our time at a cabin owned by dear friends, and it was perfect. This was not one of those big, fancy vacation rentals where everything is lovely but uncomfortable, and you follow your children around the whole time moving decorative whatnots and making sure they keep their wildlife finds far away from the glistening white rugs. This was a family cabin, a place that was instantly familiar and cozy, with practical furnishings that invited you to linger and spaces clearly designed for gathering and just being.
And that was our goal: just being. We drove up Friday night. Christopher had just taught two back to back days of Challenge A and was dragging. We all felt like we could use something, though naming it would have been almost impossible. But the next morning, when we found ourselves on the wide deck, coffee in hand, birds and cicadas singing, we knew we had found it.
Stillness.
There is an inactivity to being ill, a concerted lack of motion in the weeks you spend caring for a loved one, or recovering from your own sickness. But there is not anything you would call still there. There is only a binding of time and a waiting for the shadow to pass. That isn’t restful, it is not filling.
But stillness, oh. In stillness there are long breaths of peace. In stillness, there is the flavor of your coffee, the colors of the sunrise and, if you are patient, the presence of the Lord and the clarity of His goodness.
So yes, we celebrated birthdays. We laughed, we shot BB guns, we played innumerable games of foosball, and ate ice cream we had churned ourselves right there on the deck. But mostly, we were still. For a handful of precious days, we rested.
And it was good.
