Perseverance

This summer I read the book entitled, 1776 by David McCullough. I have to admit I love history and enjoy reading nonfiction historical books. Our visit to Boston this past April heightened by interest in the Revolutionary War and the founders (both men and women) of our country. This finished book has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks because I have been wanting to blog about it.

My favorite quote is taken from one of the last pages of this book. It is about George Washington. "He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician, not a gifted orator, not an intellectual. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up." (Page 293) Wow, it pays to dig deeper and see what makes a man or woman. This quote is about a man that became our first president, that is honored by a national holiday and was addressed as his excellency, George Washington.

George Washington is proof that the experiences of our life and how we react to them make us who we are and who we will become. It takes a lot of wisdom to learn from ones experiences and how does one truly learn but through experiences. I think at times I am afraid to try something new because of a fear of the process of the experience or fear of failure. This did not seem to stop Washington because he knew what was at stake, the future of our country. What is at stake for a Christian? People who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So we must persevere and not give up serving God nor should we be afraid of the experience he might take us through because of the lives that might be changed because of the experience. Lest we are humans, so we must remember to endeavor not for the glory we might receive but so that God might be glorified through us. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 (One of my all-time favorite verses).

Now I can return this book that I have had all summer back to the library :)

An Affair to Remember

It is a rainy Thursday morning and the girls are back in school so time to get back into blogging :) Side note: mornings are the time I am my most creative and think and process the best.

Our second week of vacation was an affair to remember. I was able to have a week long affair with my husband. We headed out Sunday afternoon as a family for Donnell Lake in Vandalia, MI. The girls were going to spend Sunday night with us because Monday was Hannah's 10th birthday.

Tom, Cindy, and family were at their cozy and inviting lake home when we arrived to give us a tour and show Eric how to use all of the fun water toys. We had a wonderful supper with them before they headed home. The girls were really excited because they got to sleep in bunk beds and had a view of the lake from their room. Second side note: there was an email waiting for us at home from a family in the church whose children had outgrown their bunk bed and they wondered if anyone would like it. Hannah now has a bunk bed, she reminded us that we had prayed for one when we were still living in Bryan, OH. God's timing is perfect.

The weather was excellent lake weather, sunny during the day with cool evenings. After the girls went to bed Eric and I caught some of the Olympics on tv and got to see Michael Phelps and the relay team get a gold medal, so exciting to watch. We turned in shortly after this. I am not sure what fabric softener Cindy uses, but the bed sheets smelled heavenly.

Monday morning we woke to hear the girls giggling from the top bunk. In honor of Hannah's birthday we had homemade cinnamon rolls with ten birthday candles on top. After breakfast we took the smaller motor boat out to explore the lake and go down a channel to another lake. We did spot one turtle and some smaller fish.

After we got back from our little boat excursion we decided it was warm enough to get in the water so we put on our swimsuits and swam out to the trampoline and played around for a while. Abby had trouble just standing on the trampoline, let alone jumping :)
After lunch it was time to get out the fun water toys. Eric took the girls for a ride on the jet ski. Hannah compared it to riding on a motor cycle, could a motor cycle be in Eric's future? I know he had a lot of fun on the jet ski and his goal for the week was to see how fast he could go on it, I think he got it up to 60 mph. I remember riding on my dad's motor cycle as a young girl. We then got out the bigger motor boat and the girls and I were able to go tubing. There was a lot of thumb's pointing up from the girls, the signal to go faster. They probably would have gone even faster if mom (me) would have let them.

After our fun day in the sun we headed in to clean up to meet Eric's parents for dinner to make the H&A exchange. The girls loved being wrapped in the fluffy towels after their shower. We drove to Elkhart, IN (about 20 minutes away) to meet Gary and Diane at the Texas Roadhouse, Hannah's choice for her birthday. It turned out to be an excellent choice as they had a special on kid's meals and there was a balloon artist.

After dinner Eric and I headed back to Vandalia to a quiet house. I felt kind of empty inside without the girls there, it did not take me long to recover, but they are so much a part of my life that I miss them when we are a part. Now my week of true relaxation and my affair with my husband could begin :)

I think all of my favorite vacations have been within eye sight of water; ocean, lake or pool, it does not matter. I am not at all a great swimmer, there is just something about being near the water that is relaxing. I would love to retire to a place near the water. I looked forward to getting up each morning and making a cup of tea and taking my Bible outside to do my devotions. The water is so still, like a sheet of glass in the morning.

Eric and I usually excised each morning. One morning we went to a nearby wooded park, he ran while I walked :) I saw an owl and some deer. It was nice to get outside the home to exercise, I usually exercise by DVD at home while the girls are still in bed. No girls this week that need me near. I then spent some time scrapbooking while Eric read. I worked on a scrapbook of pictures of clothes I have made for my family with copies of the pattern and swatches of the fabric. Third side note: the smell of the basement where I did my scrapbooking reminded me of my Great-Grandmothers home. Isn't funny how smells can bring back memories? I probably have not been in my great-grandmothers home since I was nine or ten. The afternoons were spent in the water, on the jet ski, or reading with a couple of movies thrown in. It was so nice not to be on a schedule and have children asking can I have snack, what is for supper, what can I do? It is good to have a reprieve and it is hard to have that affair if children are near by.

Wednesday afternoon was a little cloudy and rainy so we went into Three Rivers, MI to two used book stores, a favorite activity of both of ours. We made some great purchases. If you are ever in Three Rivers, I recommend the Stray Dog Bookshop, very well organized with framed quotes on the wall. I am going to have to use this decorating technique sometime. I picked up a biography on Bess Truman and a book by Edith Schaeffer entitled, Common Sense Christian Living. Edith is one of my favorite authors, I think we are kindred spirits :)

Thursday morning we headed out to golf at Garver Lake Golf Course, a nine hole course in Edwardsburg,

MI. We did not even keep score for me, but it was a fun activity to do together. We went out to Red Lobster in Elkhart with good lunch conversation before heading back to Donnell Lake. Late that afternoon we watched a great Cary Grant movie, Talk of the Town.

Friday we spent enjoying our last full day at the lake. We took the jet ski out together and then Eric went around again to see how fast he could go. Eric also had fun using Tom's restored 1980's John Deere tractor to haul the gas cans down to the lake to refill the jet skis and boat. We were a little out of sorts Friday evening, I think it was because we were realizing our wonderful relaxing week was coming to an end. Saturday morning we were off to Angola, IN to have a family fun day celebrating birthdays and reuniting with the girls.

Thanks Tom and Cindy for a great week!