Last Saturday, our son had a track meet two hours north of our home.
Our daughter was busy, so Doug and I decided to take a road trip to the high school to cheer Josh and his teammates on. We had never been that far north, and it was a beautiful spring day, so loaded up the cooler, set the radio to 80s tunes, and took off.
Even though it is May, the leaves are only just beginning to appear on the trees. Even with the lack of green, it was still beautiful.
There is still snow on the mountain tops.
We sure are a long way from south Florida where we lived for five years. 🙂
We made a quick stop at McDonald’s halfway there. The McGriddle… a wonderful blend of salty and sweet…the breakfast of champions:
We arrived just as the meet was beginning.
Josh and his team did very well. I was able to capture him running back to his team after one of his events:
Getting ready to pass the baton in the relay…
I took one last shot of the track before Doug and I left to head home after the meet…
The clouds were beginning to move in as we headed south…
I asked Doug to stop the car so I could capture this covered bridge…quintessential New England…
Another one…
We decided to stop at a local restaurant in the White Mountains for an early dinner…
We loved this place! The food was delicious and the staff was so friendly…
We have lived in New Hampshire for nearly 4 years now and I would desperately love to see a real live moose.
Unfortunately, this is as close as I have ever been to one:
However, I continue to live in hope. We have had turkeys, deer, and black bears wander through our yard. Surely a moose will make an appearance one day!
By the time Doug and I got home, I was tired but it was a good tired.
After 21 years together, there is no one I would rather spend the day with than my husband. He is my very best friend and I love doing life with him. We never run out of things to talk about and we laugh often.
The pastor who married us counseled us to never stop dating.
We have taken his advice to heart and after 19 years of marriage, we have a date once a month. He still makes my heart race.
After Josh returned home from the track meet, I took him and Julia to the high school for the Saturday evening performance of Anything Goes, courtesy of the drama club.
This was the scene that greeted us when we pulled into the parking lot:
So beautiful!
The play was very funny and I so enjoyed sharing the experience with my kids.
When I went to bed that night, my heart was so full.
Nothing monumental or extraordinary had happened that day…but it was a day that I got to spend with the ones I love the most in this world. That is the greatest gift of all.
Life is so precious and I try not to take even one minute for granted. Little did I know that in just a couple of hours, I would be reminded how fragile our time on this earth really is.
When you go through an extended trial, such as we have been enduring, all the superfluous things melt away…and life is stripped down to its essence…God and family.
It is a beautiful brokenness.
As Ann Voskamp writes, “Is this what brokenness really is? A state of wonder? When we are broken, we take nothing for granted and we are astonished by breath and being and the most simple extraordinary grace. When we are broken, being at all is the wonder, everyday grace is a miracle and we see that this is what is real: everything is a staggering gift.”
Amen.
Power Of A Moment 