Precious time together!

We just got back from Destin, FL and we had such a wonderful time! When we first considered going on vacation we thought it would be something smaller, more affordable, and close by. Jonathan had really wanted to go somewhere warm, and a beach was a nice perk too! After we looked over our finances a few months ago we realized that we had enough money to rent a nice condo from some friends of ours for a week long vacation. It was perfect! The next question we thought of was, Do we go with friends? Both Jonathan and I love our friends... God has richly blessed us with friends that are like family to us. I think I was the one who made the call on this and said that I really wanted it to be just us. You see, the more I look at our life and the time I spend with the kids the more I realize that there is SO much that imposes on it. I feel like I have to fiercely protect my family from the demands of the world. Much of it is good, but it often crowds out the very best. If I want to really know my children and my husband, I have to spend time interacting with them. This is difficult if I spend the majority of my day cleaning my house, talking on the phone, answering e-mails, and running here and there. Even if I am home all day with the kids, I can really be "unavailable" to them because I am busy taking care of other things. It's a hard balance for me sometimes to put down that dirty dish and walk over and open a book to read to the kids. Or telling a dear friend that I would love to talk but now is a bad time because the kids need my attention. It is really all a matter of balance and having our priorities straight, but also a reason why vacation with just the 6 of us was so appealing to me.
While on our week long vacation in Destin, Jonathan had intended to use his work laptop to check some work e-mail if we had time, and also allow us to check out local places that we may want to take the kids, or even check our home e-mail and use the internet. Somehow he had left his access card at home and the laptop was useless to us. Funny how God sometimes intervenes and slows us down even more. It was so refreshing to truly be disconnected from the technologies of the world for a while. We read, we sat on the beach, we watched the kids, we played in the water, we napped, we ate and talked and we just enjoyed one another! I think we do a good job as a family of interacting and talking with one another and I pray that we will only get better and better at this. I love that we can just hang out together and have a good time! During these moments of quiet time when life slows down and you have no "to do" list and no daily agenda it is interesting how much more reflective you are about life and things that need some attention, or areas that could use some boundaries. Jonathan and I talked and talked about so much of this, and I know my mind was full of thoughts that I can rarely entertain for more than a few moments on any given day, but I was able to really mull over during our time away. I hope to take away from this vacation a reminder that slowing down is really important in our lives. We don't have to always be doing and "keeping up" with everything. The quiet times, when we are still and without our "to do" lists is when we often enjoy life the most!