Realizing what matters. And what doesn't.

I had a short, yet meaningful, conversation this week about how life on the river has changed me.  I'm finding it to be true more and more every day.  Some of it has deep spiritual and personal meaning, and other ways are just the ways my regular life has changed.

For example. . .

I no longer need the noise from the television in my house.  It could be that all of my favorite shows are on summer hiatus, but it's a rare day that I turn on the television before mid-afternoon.  Sometimes I don't turn it on at all.  I'm falling more in love with the sounds of the camp (especially on these cooler mornings when I can open the windows).  It's a beautiful mixture of nature and youth and lawnmowers and the river.  I'm also loving turning on the radio in the kitchen to a nice oldies station (but they really don't seem like oldies because I remember when a lot of them were on the Top 40 stations.  And I'm not old at all.)  I love cooking and cleaning and singing classic hits with Huey, Phil, Don, Carol, James, and the rest of the gang.  Turn it UP!

I have more quality time with my girls.  Chris's schedule is busy from sun up to sun down.  He is gone for the majority of the day, and then he's still on-call for the evenings.  There have been many days that we've hardly seen him.  But, the girls and I are free-agents.  We might hang out at the house, we might go play outside, we might wear our pjs all day, we might drive to New Bern to the better Target.  We laugh, we talk about important things, trips we're gonna take, and we talk about the past, present, and the future.  It's a glorious thing to have summers off with your kids.  It's probably the biggest perk of being a teacher.

I find myself more excited about spending time with people.  I love having friends over, I love talking to the camp staff, I love catching up with old friends when they are volunteering at the camp for the week.

I also love those quiet moments of escape.  In the mornings, I love sitting at this table for an hour or so with my coffee, journal, and laptop.  I have devo time, I pray, I write, and I wake up with the world.  It's such a wonderful way to start the day.  In the evenings, I love sitting outside and watching the world go to sleep.  The reds and oranges and yellows in the skies, the fish jumping, and the occasional lightning bugs are enough to make this girl head over heels swoony with the world.  I bring my camera and get out in it, or I just sit on my deck with a glass of water (bonus if I add some lemon) and breathe it all in.

It's a good life. 

I find myself considering decorating and housekeeping on a whole different level.  This house we reside in is not ours to keep.   It's part of the camp property and I find that it's hard to make it feel like my home.  Maybe because I know that it's not ours, maybe because I know eventually we will move out of it, or maybe because I know it was bought with love and donations and I want to respect those people and churches.  Whatever it is, I have a strong desire to transform it into a place that reflects these surroundings.  From my color choices to my furniture placements, I want this place to bring in the way that I feel when I'm here on the property.  I am choosing calmer palettes, trying to create space and light in each room, and wanting it to feel open and airy.

It's a blessing to live in a place like this.  I knew to expect some of these feelings and emotions, but each day unwraps something fun and new.

It's a good place to be.