Edit- This is a picture of my sweet church family. You may not see any gaps, but a few of my very favorite family members are not in the picture. Of course we can never find a date that works for everyone, but any one of us that doesn’t make it is sorely missed.
I always get a major case of melancholy as we pull away from the retreat. The kids have grown used to me shedding a few tears as we leave the church retreat, as well as when we used to go to Barrren River ever year. Like clockwork, we go. But each time I pull away I am keenly aware of the possibility that it might be the last for any one of us to be there, or for all of us to be there as we are now. A lot can happen in a year. Not all bad things either- I was keenly aware this year of how wounded and sad I was this time last year. I’m also aware that as a family, this is our one “vacation” together each year, and I keep bracing myself for the year when one of my grown kids won’t want to or not be able to come. I will say that this seemingly maudlin perspective also serves to make me appreciate every moment of the times we do have there.
Sooooo I’d like to take my editing tools tonight and photo shop in the friends who weren’t there, and I’d like to have one more year to look forward to.
Add- I went to a session on mandala making this morning and now I really want to add mandala making into my routine.
Appreciate- My sweet DH and kiddos gave me a netbook for my birthday! Yay! It’s so cute. It’s so helpful! I loved being able to skype my mom at the usual time last night, just in a different location.
4 comments:
We thought about a netbook as a Christmas gift for Phillip, but decided against it in favor of a RC Rock Crawler and ping pong table. What a nice b-day gift for you.
I totally understand your sentiment about church retreat and Barren River. I struggle with how traditions change over time. There's a part of me that wants everything to stay as it is forever.
I am so interested in your mandala making. It sounds really cool.
So, what did you learn about Mandalas? I was sorry I could not make this class...
Theresa gave us some background which was basically this- http://www.tlcinst.org/mandala_info.pdf- She has such a calming way about her, and somehow somewhere between her gentle introduction, the ringing of a simple bell, the music she played, and circle in front of us the whole room went quiet- and there were two babies in there! What I loved was that it is in the moment,and when I finished I saw something and learned something about me. I'd like to do one a day for a month just to see what I could/would see. Theresa had some interpretation for some colors and shapes, but I really didn't need an interpreter to see what mine was telling me. What I loved was how much Clifford and Cheryl enjoyed doing it.I'm getting Cheryl some crayons for Christmas!
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