Back to the 'real' world.
My family and I took a much needed vacation back to Michigan and Illinois, we're talkin' a roadtrip! 4 kids, and our stuff packed into our Toyota Sienna and a Thule carrier on top! Most people wonder if it's actually 'fun' to do that, and I must answer with a resounding YES...I'm a romantic when it comes to travel, no matter what goes wrong or how many times I yell at my kids along the way. [on that whole 'yelling' at the kids thing, yes it does happen, and I've come to the rather disconcerting conclusion that the kids actually understand why we get so angry sometimes and they knowingly continue to do their best to keep the 'good times' rolling]
We literally slept in the middle of buffalo in North Dakota with no more than a tent screen between the biggest buff I've ever seen and my tiny 2-year-old daughter (if you want in on the action, go to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and camp for a night).
We slept the next night a hundred yards from Lake Michigan (we arrived at our site at 3 a.m., we tried our darndest to get to Escanaba in da' moonlight...but settled for an incredible sunrise and beautiful children splashing in the water).
Heather and I got to hang out with friends we haven't seen in at least 2 years. We spent more time at the beach in Ludington (MI) than I think I've ever spent in one week (my wife was in heaven).
I listened as some of my best friends in the world shared their deepest and darkest struggles, and I shed tears even if they refused to do so themselves...and it should be pointed out that I have no doubt they would do the same for me.
Heather and I went to two weddings in one week without children...that's really fun! One of the weddings was for a young woman who we shared our lives with as youth pastors. I cried like the father-of-the-bride when she came down the isle...flooded with memories that included the privilege of baptizing her (and her maid of honor) in Lake Michigan.
While visiting my family in Illinois, we battled our second round of some strange flu bug, but still managed to enjoy some much needed time with my folks and my sister and my grandmother who (bless her heart) asks the same questions over and over again. At least I think she still remembers who I am.
Heather and I celebrated our 10th anniversary with a date to Silver Creek Restaurant in Urbana, IL (we both highly recommend it). We were treated like celebrities, partly because it was our anniversary and partly because the bartender found out we were from Seattle area (don't ask me why Seattle elicits such attention in the midwest...maybe it's the whole Grey's Anatomy thing or maybe the Frazier thing...I don't know). But we had a blast. I highly recommend a new beer from New Holland Brewery in Holland, MI called 'Dragon's Milk.' Yummy!
On our way back to the Seattle area, we stayed the night with my dear pastor/mentor/friend, Pastor Chuck in Sheridan, Wyoming. What a delight to finally, after a number of years, visit with him and his wife, Linda. What I'm so amazed by is when I get to see people literally living their dreams in a community they love dearly. Words can't express what Chuck has meant to me and I look forward to our next visit.
So here we are getting back to the real world. I always get depressed upon returning from a trip away from my life. But school has started, soccer practice and games have begun, I'm taking on a new job with a contractor next week (the first time I'v really worked for someone in that field in quite a few years), and I've already preached two weeks at a little church in Cathlament, WA where I was treated so well. But still I'm not so sure I like getting back to the real world.
My kids were watching The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe the other day...they're so funny about the movie because we have a brood that goes boy-girl-boy-girl as well so they each identify with one of the characters and there are no disagreements because it just fits! But do you know what always gets me the most about that film? Two things: 1) I always get teared up when the children are first traveling by train to the 'Professor's' house, the music, the plot are oddly gut-wrenching to me...the idea of leaving home to go where you don't even know if you're wanted and so on, and especially 2) when the children, after what has seemed like many years and they've 'grown up' in Narnia happen to discover the wardrobe again and gradually return to the so-called 'real world' of WWII England... That gets me every time, the disappointment over the return, the sadness over an experience that I'd rather remain in, even if it was only a fantasy.
Now I didn't fight in any wars during our trip, nor did I meet any fawns (the half man half goat kind), but it did feel like we were transported to another world as we journeyed as a family to see good friends and family. I hope we can do it again!