I try to do it every year with my family's company but this year was different. I was invited by some girlfriends to share a cabin at one of my favorite places on earth, the Word of Life Family Campground. This was our 2nd annual trip because last year we decided if something is very fun or a good idea, it should become a tradition. I couldn't turn them down. I didn't want to. God always meets me up in the Adirondacks and I knew He was calling me to come spend some time alone with Him. I was not about to miss that. (Please notice I have a great husband who is never selfish when it comes to letting me go when I need to.)
After I made those plans months ago, some new friends offered us a free stay in their year-round camper just a few feet from that cabin. Well, yeah, If one's good, two is better, right? This was the week I really wanted to be there anyway, because it would lead up to a very important event (Ben's graduation from Word of Life Bible Institute) and his subsequent homecoming (he will be home for just over two weeks - woohoo!) which required him to be picked up.
Unfortunately, Scott and Ally couldn't join me for the first ten days because of work and volleyball commitments. They did come for the last five.
In the meantime, I spent the first week juggling time and meals with my friends, my mother who was also vacationing nearby and Ben, of course. We went to the beach, appreciated the beautiful Adirondack landscape, found fun places to eat and even watched a movie outside on movie night. It was fun and relaxing. That's how I envisioned the first week to be.
The middle four days were to be my alone time and I planned how I would spend so much time by myself. I declared them my own personal spiritual retreat.
I came asking God for three things. Not three things you'd ask a genie for after rubbing his lamp but three things that I was wrestling with. Three things that were bogging me down and keeping me from experiencing peace and contentment. I needed the One who knows and loves me best to speak to me, to reveal what's been going on in my heart that up to that point was frustrating me.
I brought my Bible, old journals to read, books and new journals to write in. I planned to listen to great preaching, pray, read, listen, walk and wait. I knew it would take my focused attention, cleared schedule and hours of solitude to get me in a place where I could receive and I was prepared to stay in God's face until He addressed my three requests. I was not disappointed.
As usual, just as continually promised in His Word, He shows up when we diligently seek Him and in many ways like through the Scriptures I was reading, the messages being preached and even the gift of time with a spiritual mentor of mine. You may remember I went to visit her at her camp last summer too. (You can read about that here.)
She asked me what the three things I was asking God for were. As I spilled my heart out on her beautiful screened patio, she managed to carefully pick up the random pieces and wisely put them in order in a way I couldn't do on my own. She deciphered the puzzle and God used her to set me free. She gave me permission to make some hard decisions for my own well being.
He released me from wrong thinking, mangled emotions, lies I was treating as truth, and He wrapped me in a warm blanket of His love and attentiveness. I found what I was desperately looking for and hopefully came back changed.
Can I just stop a moment and encourage you to go directly to God and ask Him for what you need? Don't hold back. He wants you to come to Him because He has the answers you're looking for. He loves you and is here to help. Don't wait another minute!
By the time Ally and Scott arrived, I was ready for them. We had a good few days together. We even climbed Mt. Severence. I can't believe we have been camping in Schroon Lake for more than 10 years and never have. It was worth all the huffing and puffing to get to the top and see that glorious view.
I'm getting to the best part - about ten minutes or less after we ended the call, I got a text from my sweet, funny daughter-in-law that went something like this: "Not that we don't love Drew's company, but maybe next time we can just have a girls only FaceTime." Does she know how to speak my language or what?
By the end of the weekend, I was ready to come home. Because no matter how much you need to get away - and should - there's no place like home. Or your king-sized bed. Or your shower. Or carpet under your feet. Or your favorite comfy couch on which to sit and pray in the morning. Or your husband and daughter saying, "We're so glad you're home." And it's always good to bring home a college boy and all his stinky summer camp laundry.
I have so much more to tell you about that happened while I was gone (stuff that will benefit you, not just this family drivel), but for today, I just wanted to say hi and I missed you and bore you with some pictures of the main event.
Another happy milestone in the Burtis family. We seem to have had more than our fair share in 2014. I know I may have said or written this when Drew stood in this very spot - but it's a tremendous gift to have God write part of a parent's story (He changed my life for good at the BI in 1987) into their children's stories. He's done it again and I am overwhelmed.
It's the best foundation for any one of us before we become adults and have to figure out how to live as a grown up out in the real world. I'm so very grateful that my sons have had this experience and that next Fall it will be our daughter's turn. Two down...one to go!
Thanks for indulging me.
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