The Pause That Refreshes

Just got back from five days Up North, as we say in Michigan. We had a great time - good relaxation, good fun, good family time. We really needed some good family time.

Molly and I and five of our kids (4M on down) shared a lodge with a friend-couple of ours, R (the husband) and M (the wife), and seven of their nine kids; sixteen of us, all cozy together under one roof. Our lodge was 'rustic', which meant no electricity, and pit toilets (altho we were near the campsites, which had showers and flush toilets; much to the relief of 6F)

We were walking distance from a beautiful, sandy Lake Michigan beach, and the weather was beautiful. The kids spent hours and hours playing in the lake, skipping stones, jumping over whitecaps, whatever there was to do at the lake, they did it.

One day we drove a short distance to an out-of-the-way little waterfall hidden away in the middle of nowhere. The falls were maybe about 4-5 feet high, with a little pool at the bottom. Folks were just sort of lounging in the pool, and the kids were jumping into the pool from the top of the falls. 4M and 5M and the teenage boys spent the better part of an hour trying to climb up the falls against the falling water. All very 'unsafe' and (therefore?) tons of fun. . .

We even went to a concert by a Beatles tribute band.

So, all-in-all, we had a great time. We really needed some family-recouping time, with no pressure, just to be able to relax and have fun together, and we got that. God is good.