For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:1 NLT
“Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month,after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month from generation to generation. For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 23:39-43
This week in school, we are celebrating Sukkot, the Feast of Booths. Sukkot is a dual celebration, both commemorating the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert, and celebrating the gathering of crops at harvest time. Last week, we built our sukkah. The sukkah is a reminder of the huts, or booths, that the Israelites lived in while in exile. We should be eating some meals there, but it has been terribly hot and humid, so I’m waiting to have our meal on the last day, this Friday.
Building the sukkah out of pallets (free!) and zip ties. It won’t pass any inspections, but it should hold up until our celebration is over. I’m not handy, but I am resourceful.
Ben turned 12 last week! To celebrate, I took him to his favorite restaurant, where he is able to find foods that will never grace my kitchen. Case in point: sushi.
After lunch, we went to see Lion King 3D, then had a family party at home.
He wrapped up the day with youth group that evening. What a fun day!
I am so thankful that God brought Ben to us 12 years ago. He has taught me so much – about love, and hope, and God, and life. I am humbled to have been chosen as his mom.
An interesting thing happened on vacation: I had fun. Ok, that’s not unheard of, I’ll grant you. But I was surprised by how much fun we had in the place where I grew up … the place I couldn’t wait to “escape” when I was younger. Who knew?! I realize now that it’s what you make it … there are adventures out there, but you have to look for them.
Part of my enlightenment came from a book I read recently: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller. Miller writes about editing his life story for a movie, and realizing that his story was rather dull. Bit by bit, he got off his couch and attempted new things, making his story one worth telling. It’s a wonderful, compelling book, and it made me want to create a more interesting story out of my own life. The other catalyst was the death of my sister recently. I realize how short life is, and I want to live it to the full.
And so, this indoor girl who is much more comfortable in the concrete jungle, got outside and created some stories, trying some things I’d never tried before. Some of the stories were much more geared to making memories than making us comfortable (read: Wigwams), and some were way more fun than I’d expected (that’d be the horseback riding).
First stop: horseback riding. Emma had never been riding before, and I don’t remember that I ever have. Maybe once? In Gatlinburg? Not real sure. So we went on an hour-long trail ride at Mammoth Cave Adventures. This was not a tame ride! Jared says it’s the best trail ride he’s been on. We rode along ridges, through the woods and meadows, up steep hills and down rocky paths. It was the real deal, and it was a blast!! It helped that my horse was very well-behaved and responsive. Emma was so scared to begin with that we were on the verge of leaving her behind with Mom and Dad. But she got the hang of it and loved it so much that she asked every day for the rest of the vacation if we could go back and do it again. Ben took right to it, whooping and hollering along the way, declaring, “My middle name is Speed … except when I’m not on a horse. Then it’s just Caleb.”
After we rode, the boys headed out to Mammoth Cave National Park to camp for the night. Nope. I’m not that dedicated to making a story. I don’t do camping much.
Next stop: a tea party with my Aunt Thelma. She recently turned 80 years old, and is my last surviving aunt on my dad’s side. She lives alone in a fabulously decorated little house (I just love her taste!), and I thought she might enjoy a visit from us girls. We picked up some cookies and Diet Coke (couldn’t find any unsweet tea, and she’s diabetic … and besides, y’all know how I am about my Diet Coke!) and Mom, Emma and I headed over in the afternoon while the boys headed out to their campsite.
The next day, we went ziplining, again at Mammoth Cave Adventures. This was way out of my comfort zone! I felt better about it when Jared commented about what a great setup these folks have. He’s jumped out of airplanes and rappelled out of helicopters, so he knows a thing or two about safety and riggings. The folks who work there are also calming and reassuring – they made it a great experience. Jared went on one course with five ziplines and two skybridges, and the kids and I went on another course with three ziplines and one skybridge. (The kids were too small for the five-line course, and I didn’t think they’d zip by themselves. Besides, I was skeered.)
Jared
Ben
Emma
The last, slow line. My first one was a doozy! Wish we had video of that!
The next day we went canoeing down the Green River. I hadn’t canoed before. If I had, I would have known that a 7.5-mile ride with an ADHD kid in a canoe isn’t the best idea. Bless his heart, Ben made it, but he sure was getting antsy! The company we rented from, Mammoth Cave Canoe and Kayak, runs a great operation. They drove us to Dennison Ferry and dropped us off. We made it to the Green River Ferry in about three hours. It was such a pretty, peaceful ride.
We couldn’t get a lake cabin for the Friday and Saturday nights that we were in town, so we stayed at the Wigwam Village in Cave City, one of the three remaining wigwam villages left in the country. I’d always dismissed those when I was a kid, but it occurred to me that my kids might think it was a hoot. And they did. The four of us stayed in one wigwam, which had two double beds and a full bathroom. The kids really enjoyed the playground and made several new friends (yes, there were other families staying there, too). [Side story: One of the nights, Ben was asking each the kids on the playground if they were Christians. One kid asked, "What's a Christian?" and Ben explained it. I sometimes complain that he has no filter and doesn't care what people think, but in this case, what an asset that was! It's important to him, and he believes it should be important to everyone. What if we all were compelled to share the Good News for that reason, and not out of some obligation?] I’d like to give the Wigwams a good review, because it really was full of simplicity and nostalgia. But it was also full of mold, as we found out the hard way. The first night we were there, Emma was up almost all night sneezing and blowing her nose. She was miserable. Jared went looking in the unventilated bathroom the next morning and found the source – mold. :-/ Once we moved out on Sunday, she was fine.
On Sunday, we went to a Green cousins family reunion. That was a lot of fun, meeting and hanging out with 80 or so cousins!
Ben just adores this man, my cousin Suesan’s husband, Robert.
Greeters/name-taggers. Emma went after this job with gusto. I was surprised!
My beautiful great-niece, Gracie.
Gracie’s parents, my nephew Chance and his wife, Tabby. Shout out to y’all in Italy! That’s right. Italy. sigh
And this guy – I just thought he needed to be photographed. Look at that face. It’s seen a lot in life, I’ll wager.
Wow. This is a really long post. Is anybody still out there?? Hello? Is this thing on? Ok, moving on.
After the reunion, we went out on the boat with Mom and Dad. Perfect ending to a fun day.
Our last day there, we ran around a bit, stopping by the cemetery and an Amish market before going to a cookout at Mom and Dad’s.
Yep, it was a busy week … and these are just the highlights. We also made time for some walks/runs, dinners out, a visit to the E.R. (sigh), and a girls night out with an old-as-in-longtime friend. And yard sales. Always time for yard sales.
So I’m looking for more ways to make my story worth telling. I want to make it memorable. I want to “live out loud.” What about you? We’ve each been given this gift of life … are you using it? Are you investing with it? Or are you missing it? Look beyond your comfort zone and see what’s out there. Make a memory. Try something different. Write a new chapter. Live!!
On a road trip through Georgia, we ran into massive traffic jams, going both north and south. Just before we got trapped in the backup on our side, we saw an exit, so we took it. We were near Atlanta, where we’d planned to stop for the night, anyway. We decided, since we couldn’t go either way on the highway, we’d just find a hotel and stay there.
We took the exit and meandered down the road about 10 miles into the sleepy little town of Jackson – county seat of Butts County. It had a certain … isolated feeling, and as drove around, we joked that the news reports would say that we were “never seen or heard from again.”
The only hotel we found was a Days Inn, so we pulled up to the entrance. As we passed the sign, though, we did a double-take:
We decided to get back on the road and have our GPS show us the backroads to Atlanta …
I’m seldom at a loss for words … written words, that is. Talking is a whole other story. But this post has me stumped. I think it’s because I’m trying to describe something that words just can’t encompass.
Tomorrow is our 19th wedding anniversary. I have had the joy of sharing the last 19 years with my best friend. I have been cherished, protected, defended, supported, encouraged, respected, honored … loved. Every day.
I married a man who is my hero, as I often tell him. Sometimes that means serving our community in his job. Sometimes it means cleaning up dead spiders. And everything in between.
He is present and attentive and helpful. He is a gentleman … and a gentle man. He goes the extra mile to ensure my happiness, even if that means sacrificing his own time or energy or comfort – which makes me want to sacrifice for him in return.
We are a team, and a good one. We gladly work together, pursuing the same goals. While we often divert from the conventional, he’s “my kind of weird,” as I’ve taken to telling him.
We love, we laugh, we believe. Together. I am humbled that he chose me, and I know how blessed I am.
(weird guy in the background on the right always makes me laugh)
Building the sukkah out of pallets (free!) and zip ties. It won’t pass any inspections, but it should hold up until our celebration is over. I’m not handy, but I am resourceful. 
Using banana tree leaves for the roof
Emma was so scared to begin with that we were on the verge of leaving her behind with Mom and Dad. But she got the hang of it and loved it so much that she asked every day for the rest of the vacation if we could go back and do it again. Ben took right to it, whooping and hollering along the way, declaring, “My middle name is Speed … except when I’m not on a horse. Then it’s just Caleb.”
