The Message of the Picnics

Summer 2015 didn't turn out the way we planned.

Usually a time of rest, reflection, and rejuvenation, this summer brought surprises that canceled expectations. And that's okay!

Ezra ready to party. Gramma ready to sleep!

Ezra's diagnosis led to fifty-four days this summer with our GRANDS; mostly with Judah, Naomi, and Ezra, but some with Jack and Ashlyn as well for our annual Mana - Pop-pa Camp.

We traveled west (partially planned); we traveled east (unplanned). I was on a first name basis with nurses at three different hospitals ... and then met the ER nurses as well in a fourth hospital.


These words came to me on August 1, two days before I broke my leg falling down one step at our Sanctuary (the reason for the ER visit).

Weary beyond weary;
Weary beyond knowing;
Weary beyond feeling.

The surprises of summer

Garden at the Ronald McDonald House.

Stretched thin the already weary.

A good weary;
A right weary;
Still a weary weary.

Care for yourself my friends advise.
But how? I don't know.
Time marches, weary grows.

I ask the Knower, the Wise One, He,
The gentle shepherd who cares for me.

The picnics that week, some mid-summer fun,
Whisper His wisdom,
The answer to my conundrum. 

The first He says is beauty, take time to enjoy.
The second my friend is quiet, listen, listen for my voice.

Beauty and Quiet, the anecdote weary friend.
Ponder, savor, wonder, and experience the weariness end.

The advice of several friends was the same as I spent five weeks in LA with Jeff and Aubrey and their three, make sure you take care of yourself!

How? I'm eating; I'm sleeping; exercise - well, I could have done better in that category.

At the waterfall.

Ashlyn and Jack; Pikes Peak

I returned to Colorado just in time for Mana - Pop-pa Camp. On Tuesday of that week, Jack, Ashlyn and I took a walk in the woods behind our home for a breakfast picnic. We stopped at a small waterfall for Jack to play with his remote-controlled boat. Ahhhh, the scenery, peaceful and beautiful. I heard God whisper, Sue, beauty is part of caring for yourself.

Later in the week, Bill and I drove to the top of Pikes Peak with the kids. We stopped on the way down for a picnic lunch. After sandwiches and watermelon, Bill took Jack and Ashlyn to climb on some rocks; I stayed back at the picnic table nestled under tall pines. Again, I heard God's gentle voice, Sue, quiet is a part of caring for yourself.

Beauty and quiet, my prescription for weariness.

But the unexpected continued. Five days into our time at the Sanctuary, I broke my leg and we returned home.

Some of the beauty I enjoyed at Dan and Trisha's home last week.

Beauty and quiet came in small doses this summer. The doses though left me with a contentment, and a certainty ... God is the blessed controller of all things; He knows my needs far better than I. 

"give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

I Thessalonians 5:18