A Refresher Course

Life is often a series of lessons learned, forgotten, and learned again.

Our daughters and I just had the opportunity to travel with my husband for four days to Orlando, FL, where he attended a convention.  While he was in sessions during the day, the girls and I relaxed at the hotel or went shopping.  On Monday, we all spent the day at Sea World.

It was very refreshing to step out of our normal routine for a few days, and the time away reminded me of a few things.

1.  Sometimes you need a change of scenery.  We’d had busy couple of weeks around here, so the break from our regular schedule was very welcome.  However, I realized that changing our scenery doesn’t have to involve an out-of-state trip!  We could take our homeschooling lessons to a coffee shop or the library for the morning or have breakfast in bed or a picnic supper.  Doing the normal things in an unusual place can be fun for the whole family.

2.  You never know when you’ll receive an unexpected blessing.  It’s often difficult to find modest church dresses for our eleven-year-old daughter, so I’m always on the lookout for them.  On our first shopping day, we decided to stop at Macy’s, since they don’t have a store near where we live.  We walked into the girls’ dress section and found two dresses for our older daughter and one for the other daughter.  That was exciting enough, but there was also a morning sale and all three of the dresses were 65 percent off. We got there at 12:30 and the sale ended at 1:00, so it was a bit hectic trying on dresses and getting the right sizes in time, but we pulled it off!  (Long-awaited blessings are special, too.  On Saturday, my sister gave birth to this precious little guy!)

3.  I have been blessed with an amazing marriage partner.  He lightens my load, provides for our family, and is a wonderful dad to our children.   He’s my best friend and I never tire of spending time with him.

The older I get, the more I hope I remember the lessons I’ve learned!