The Gift of Rest...and trying to go North

This past weekend, Jeff and I were able to get away for an overnight. We had a voucher to use for one night at Lion Hill Lodge in Nakuru – about two hours away from us – nestled in the Lake Nakuru Game Park. Our voucher was just weeks from expiring and our anniversary was up and coming too. So, we are either 11 months late in celebrating last year’s anniversary – or one month early! Either way you look at it, it was wonderful to get away, just the two of us! Our friend Jenny graciously watched our three kiddos while we were gone and if you want to see what they were up to while we were gone, check her blog.http://notbymight46.blogspot.com/ They had a blast with “Miss Jenny!”

It was wonderful to relax. Take a nap when you want to. Not have to cook or clean up. Not make your bed. Finish a conversation without the phone ringing or a child interrupting. It was so fun to grab our binoculars and camera and watch the wildlife, take walks and game drives. Sit with a cup of coffee, overlooking the acacia trees and lake at sunset. It was truly a gift of rest.

But one of our highlights was on the way there.  We listened to a podcast from our church, Blythefield Hills Baptist Church, and we were both challenged by God’s Word and it was wonderful to have time to debrief with one another on how to apply this particular message to our lives. The funny thing was the sermon was about how we respond to trials in our life – do we go “North” (turn to Jesus) or “South” (grasping, grumbling, complaining). One of the examples the pastor shared in his list of life’s trials was a flat tire. How do you respond to a flat tire? Jeff and I darted a look at one another at that point because we had both started off our trip to Nakuru in a grumpy mood because we had left an hour late due to a flat tire and neither of us responded well to the incident, or to each other in that moment! Thankfully, we heard what we needed to hear, were able to debrief it, and are so thankful that God is perpetually patient with us as we desperately try to switch directions, from South to North!!!

I read a great quote this week about joy in the midst of trials, which essentially is a way we can go “North” to God while in the midst of hardship:

It is impossible to be holy apart from suffering. There is redemptive fruit that cannot be produced in our lives apart from suffering. True joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence of the Lord Jesus in the midst of pain. Suffering is a pathway to sanctification, a doorway into greater intimacy with God.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss