Road Trip
Last week I spent a couple of days in San Antonio for a much needed girl trip. Let me tell you nothing does a body good like rolling through the Texas Hill Country in spring, through the green trees and soft grassy hills dotted with a million buttercups, with one of your favorite people. God was there with us for those couple of days, breathing encouragement, hope and faith into our mom lives mostly through each other!
We headed out a little later than I had hoped; I had to drive into Dallas (blech, yuck, gross…) to get some pre-op labs done and information completed before my jaw surgery the next week.
So, in mid-afternoon, just as the sun started to come through the clouds we headed south in the Mommy Van. I suppose my iPhone and GPS recognizes that I35 through Austin is my worst nightmare and had us instead travel down Hwy 281, bypassing that messy business altogether.
As soon as we got out of the metroplex you couldn’t help but notice how God has blessed us with such a beautiful spring. The soft rolling hills, bright green, lavishly topped with dark mesquite, cedar and cottonwoods that splashed sparse shade on brilliant buttercups and Indian paintbrush like the tiny buds were simply sunbathers floating in a cool pool of green and splashed with sunshine. So relaxed they had no choice but to softly flow and toss with the breeze.
We couldn’t help but talk about God’s beauty. As a matter of fact, we couldn’t help but sing about it as we listened to her favorite road trip CD that I was happy to learn of, which included some really great musicians putting the Bible to song. We also sang along in praise to old hymns we just don’t hear that often in church anymore.
The next day we attended an event called Business Boutique which is geared towards women using their passions and God given gifts to start successful side and small businesses. It was powerful and uplifting! We were able to talk about dreams in a context that we might actually have a real path and plan to achieve them.
We were on fire! Before we headed home we walked old downtown small town Texas squares, we ate German Food, and we ambled through a really great Farmer’s Market. WE had a fabulous time, beyond fabulous. God was with us in a big way.
Now, I’ve had friends that are really great people whom I love. Their idea of a break from the husband and kids is pure retreat. Sometimes we need that. Sometimes we need a girl’s night of venting and absolutely no responsibility as far as household and kids go. We need to breathe.
Sometimes people think of a break or a girl’s trip as a wild weekend in Vegas. Anyone who knows me knows that is not my style. Maybe rolling through the Hill Country in a van, stopping for pie in Hico and singing hymns isn’t your style.
My point is if you don’t have a friend that speaks God’s truth in your life, encourages you to make those tough decisions based on your faith and not what society would have you think, believes in you, has her feet planted on higher ground when you don’t and vice versa, who can appreciate and sing along to an old hymn that sings in your heart and brings happy tears to your eyes… then you need to pray for one.
We have people in our lives that are friends. We love them and we build relationships and each person has a place in our hearts. We play a part in their lives as they do in our own.
Some are set apart, however and God sent lovely people whom you know are in your life because they are an answer to prayer. If you don’t have a friend with whom you can unabashedly discuss your Faith for the brilliantly, joyous, meaningful, purposeful thing that it is, then pray for one.
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