A Time Away

My husband and I  needed to get away, the last several months have been taxing both physically and emotionally for both of us.

I was afraid when our son and family moved away that there would be this huge void left in our lives, that days would be empty and without purpose. That hasn't been the case, in fact there are times I think that the Lord allowed this change in our family, so that our time could be freed up for other purposes. Make no mistake, I miss them terribly but, I see the good in the difficult. God has given us much grace during this time. The ways we have been shown love through the kindness of others is a post in itself. We are truly blessed, but still, physically and emotionally exhausted, so we decided to take a little trip.

We went to the mountains hoping to find some fall color and pick some apples. It was a short excursion but long enough to recharge our batteries. The weather was foggy and rainy but it didn't matter, we had time alone. We had a chance to window shop, play a board game, and share our hearts. We needed to talk to each other without the distractions of everyday life. We grieved a little, shared our hopes and dreams for the future, and debated on what God's purposes were in everything that is going on in our lives right now.

A truth we need to take hold of,  we may not understand God's purposes in the difficult, but we can trust that He is good and His purposes are always good...always, and he will give grace in the difficult

We also picked apples, a lot of them.  We've done this before, so we came prepared with rain gear and boots. It was a good thing, because the orchards we muddier than they were last year (it had been raining for the last several days) and even though it really didn't rain the day we picked, we stayed wet because the fog never lifted.

Now, you had the option, of buying the apples at the Apple Barn, or hiking up the slippery hill and picking them yourself. I wanted the experience of picking the apples (you knew that right?) and my sweet husband was happy to oblige. Going up the hills wasn't too bad, it was the coming down that made me a little nervous. I brought a change of clothes  in case someone got too muddy, but thankfully the only thing we had to change was our shoes.

After our apple picking was done we headed to the Apple Barn for some Hot Apple Cider and warm Apple Cider Donuts, something my husband looked forward to after a challenging trek through the orchard.

We were hoping we would come home refreshed, and we did. Our little night away didn't change our circumstances, but it was a means of grace that the Lord gave us is walking through our "difficult".