I am SO ready for a vacation.
I want a vacation from cell phones, TVs, and computers.
I want a vacation from sickness, antibiotics and breathing treatments, diarrhea, diaper blow-outs, and vomit.
I'm not even complaining about the housework or cooking or anything like that. I just want a vacation from the last several months, a time when our family is completely well and free from all distractions. I want us to have time to just focus on God and each other and get our relationships back on track. Everything has seemed so disrupted lately, and everyone is more grumpy than usual.
I get the whole flexibility thing, Lord, and honestly, I'm trying and I'm trying to teach the kids about flexibility in the process. They hate it when daddy is gone, so we try to schedule some fun things during that time. But is it possible for us to have some quality family time anytime soon? There are days when I just want to flush the next phone that rings down the toilet and unplug the TV and the computer. (Is it that obvious that my love language is quality time?)
The kids and I have had some fun movie nights when Ben has been gone. We've read some really great bedtime stories, too! Hey, we even racked up a pretty good library fine on overdue books that we just couldn't bear to return on time. But do you want to know what has been our coolest night recently, one that the kids still talk about? As Ben was coming back into town, he called me and asked if we had dinner plans. I told him that I hadn't started dinner yet, and he told me not to; we were going to go bowling as a family! That was Hayden's first time to go bowling and my first time in several years. Abby won the first game and Ben won the second. (Yes, I got beaten--no, completely creamed--by my six-year-old daughter!) The kids still bring that night up to me individually and ask when we can go bowling again.
But they, too, are also looking forward to a family vacation. They don't even care where it is, just as long as we are together with no distractions. Someplace where they can be outside, playing until they can't play anymore! (They have some serious cabin fever right about now.) They also want mommy's and daddy's undivided attention.
I know that "this too shall pass." But honestly, it can't pass quickly enough.
