If you were an angel

If you were an angel standing watch over me, this is what I would look like.....


.....my friend Juanita took this picture---thanks Juanita! (you're an angel!.....figuratively speaking)
:-)


If there is one thing I appreciate, it is Juanita and Debbie and Dora! (oh wait, that is THREE!) My three friends went with me to a cabin for 24 hours where we fellowshipped and prayed and worshipped and chatted and laughed. You ladies are the BEST!!

See the smile on my face? I appreciate those who make time for me! My love language is attention, I love to be talked to and listened to---Woo Hoo! We did it up right.

And it is so rough that in this day and age we are so cut off from each other in our lives. We have to build communities. Relationships are no longer about proximity.

In fact, MY WONDERFUL FRIEND AMY who actually lives quite close to me is someone I rarely see now that I've changed churches. and that is the most horrible part about changing churches!
The ones you LOVE!
because we tend to see those who are in the circle we are existing in........those outside those circles fall by the wayside.
Let it not be so.
As I move away from dear friends.........I dread losing touch. Their lives will all go on busily as mine narrows into a small island of isolation. God will be there, and I will learn to rely even more on Him. I will spend time with Him.

But my friends that have moved away---Elaine, Allison, Cindy, Anita, Dawn, others. We rarely communicate because of distance and lack of current common ground. (sniff sniff)
Even those of you still here (oh, but if you are reading my blog---LOVE TO YOU MY FRIEND!)
(.....and love to YOU Dad----cause my Dad reads fairly regularly! Thanks Dad!)

and off the subject, Juanita is so dear to me---she told me she RE-read my poem from my blog! OK, major brownie points with me!! (not that we'll get to redeem those somehow--but maybe)

Wait!
I wanted to write about the retreat because Amy said she'd check my blog.

Amy was going to come with us but then her husband had to go to San Antonio to help move his parents because they are around 70 and he's still a young strong under 40. Well, she was checking on her little ones indoors (Caleb 3, David 1) when her big ones......Joshua (7?) and Hannah (5?) were jumping on the trampoline and they tried one of the illegal stunts they've worked on----and whoops! Hannah's chin crashes into the back of Joshua's skull and off they must go to the emergency room for STITCHES---yes, double emergency room co-pay on that one.
We missed you, AMY! But I'm glad you were there to mother those babies!

D, D, J and me got out of town around 3. We stopped at Starbucks in San Marcos (yes, I drink coffee now, finally old enough....I think). We drove around San Marcos a while looking for a certain grocery store and got to see some of the Texas State campus. Nice scenery, too.

Then we got to our cabin....We got there right before a big thunderstorm. The wind was kicking up the leaves and the ions in the air were fabulously stimulating! My hair was getting blown in 30 directions and I ran out to the fence to look across the pasture and see the majesty of a deluge! Oh, but once the big drops came, I ran back to the cabin before I was drenched. With a tin roof, we could hardly hear to talk--that was pretty fun.

So I think we got out some food. We had tons of stuff! Salmon! turkey, ham, hard boiled eggs, graham crackers/milk, lettuce, olives..........well, tons of stuff.
We ate whenever we wanted to and only had to fix our own (the other ladies have more children than I do---I've never had more than four). We went down to the river after the rain. We talked in the clubhouse. We came back and talked into the night. We prayed together until midnight.
In the morning, Mr called me at 7. Juanita figured she could get up if I did. We ate some breakfast and the others got up too. Debbie went swimming and I went out there and prayed at the pasture. Dora tried swimming but there were serious bugs in the hot tub. When she turned on the jets, tons of bugs came out---YUK!
So we played some worship music and did our own things together. Sometimes some took walks while others got ready, some ate, some were reading the Bible, some journaling, it was really wonderful.
We had hoped to stay until 3, but we had to be out by noon. So we packed up and explored the rest of the property by car then drove along the River Road to Gruene. We took the really long way to Gruene so we saw New Braunfels, too.
I took pictures at one stop when Debbie suggested we stop the car so I could take some. Well, that was just what I needed! Hooray! I love taking photos in nature (I only sent out a few, but I took hundreds).

Whew! Mr comes home from Brazil tomorrow, so I didn't go to church tonight, as much as I wanted to.....I knew I might be tired tomorrow if I didn't quietly get everything back in order before he got home. I want to be rested to help HIM rest. He'll be tired.
I had a nice retreat, but he's been working.
My trip was restorative, but his was taxing.
and all those flights! Oh, he does NOT like flying. (beats walking, though)
and he was in economy, so he'll be stiff from being cramped up for 12 hours.

Blessings to everyone. I miss everyone already. Shoot, I miss myself! I will not be able to be how I've been while on summer break. It has been fantastic.

We'll soon see how whiny I am----or if I am strong and courageous!

which reminds me that they gave me gifts! I think I've gotten more gifts this year than ever. My friends are really gift givers. I'm really TRYING to be---it is not my strongest point, for sure.
THANK YOU EVERYONE BECAUSE I LOVE TO FEEL LOVED AND YOU'VE MADE IT HAPPEN!!!!!
Congratulations to Cindy Tyler, who now has a Masters in Biology---Way to Go, Woman!