Mountain Saga: Initial Emotions

I haven't blogged in a while. I've been in Gatlingburg on "Spring Break" also known as Vacation for those of us with real jobs. Our hotel was the only one on the planet without free wi-fi. (Not that I'm complaining-my hotel was paid for.) If anything, it helped me get into the mountain mood. I spent the week with great Christian friends, relaxing, laughing, crying...it was amazing.

While there, I did do a bit of writing as well. I wrote this on the first night we got there.

**

I’m so overcome with emotion.

I just took a bubble bath, in a hot tub, in my hotel room. Sarah, Elizabeth, and I are staying in the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. We have a full kitchen (with washer/dryer), a living room with fireplace, 2 bedrooms (both of which have their own televisions, balconies, fireplaces, bathrooms, and hot tubs.)

Yeah.

I wasn’t going to blog during this week. I was going to relax. But there are some things that I need to say right now.

I’m not paying for most of this. I’m helping with gas, food, and my own things…but I did not pay for this hotel. Elizabeth’s parents did. This tells me 2 things: I am blessed beyond measure to have these people in my life AND aren’t God’s people amazing? The Nabors are the shining example of what I want to be when I grow up. Fun. Adventuresome. Hospitable. Generous. I wish and hope to repay them someday.

2. I doubted coming on this trip. Honestly lately I feel like my college friends have abandoned me. Like we’re on 2 different planets. I’m grown up and boring. But God knew I needed this. He provided the opportunity and I (grudgingly) accepted it. I thought this could be my last “hoorah” with my college buds before they graduate and move off. It might still be, but it’s so much more. He knows so much more than I do…I just need to shut up and realize. He knew this trip would do me good.

3. It is so hard for me to relax. I just took a bubble bath. While I watched Whose Line is it Anyway on TV. While drinking a Sun Drop. By all accounts, I should be relaxed. But my mind was still racing. My heart was thumping. My sister might be the ADHD one, but I have a hard time unwinding. I don’t remember the last time my mind just shut off.

So now I’m on the couch. I opened the balcony door to listen to the stream below. No TV, no music. Just me and rushing water. I’m so accustomed to noise (I fall asleep to the TV every night.) that I forgot how calming silence is. I need to sit in silence more often. I need to meditate, relax, and just stop. Be still and know that He is God.

4. I’m thankful for these friends. I’m so thankful that I can be crabby and snap at these 4 people and they shrug it off. They forgive…immediately. I’m blessed with friends who know me well enough to know that I have bad days and what I say is not what I mean. And that I can do the same for them. These people are hard to come by…so while I have them, I need to cherish them.

5. I’m thankful for all of the sweet, precious memories I have of this place. Gatlinburg. I’m thankful for the beautiful scenery. I’m thankful for all the people I’ve shared it with. I’m thankful for generous hearts, loving friends, Christian lives.

Most of all though, I’m thankful for the One who made it all. The One who gives it all. The One who is All. I cannot thank or praise Him enough.

Amen