Lake Season is Here

It's official.  Lake season is here.  We welcomed summer with one of the most beautiful Memorial Day weekends we have had in some time.  We spent the weekend at the lake in Greenville, because Audrey is not finished with school yet.  

This weekend was a major milestone for Audrey, because she water skied for the first time.  She was very nervous at first, but we talked her through it and practiced wearing the training skis while sitting on the giant water mat.  I am so proud of her for being so brave.  Even after the first time she fell, she got right back up again...twice.  I wonder how many other children learn how to water ski before they learn to ride a bike without training wheels...

 

Barrett really wanted to ski and kept wanting to practice standing in the skis on the dock.  After Audrey decided she was finished, Barrett jumped up and proclaimed that it was now his turn.  I was extremely nervous, because I don't think he's quite big enough to do it, but as excited as he was I figured we let him try.  He was all about it, until he jumped in the water with his dad.  The water was still pretty chilly this weekend, so he immediately started whining that it was too cold.  So, he got out of the water without skiing.  When we were in the car driving home, he said he doesn't like skiing.  We tried to explain that it was just the cold water that he didn't like, but, honestly, I am fine if he is scared out of skiing for this summer and wants to wait until next year. 

 

 

We also had the standup Jet Ski in Greenville this weekend, which is extremely unusual because it lives at Lake of the Ozarks.  The smooth waters gave us good opportunities to get the kids out on the standup (including our friend's little girl Elise who had never even been on a wave runner before). 

 

 
Having the stand up in Greenville also meant we could mix two of our favorite pastimes.  Water Skiing and jet skiing.  Only my husband and brother would be silly enough to do this...twice!

 

 

Aside from that, we just had fun hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Even the dogs couldn't get enough of it.  Despite the cold water, it was a pretty perfect boating weekend.  

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 13

If you read my last post, you know that it's been crazy around the Nance household lately.  When I wrote that post less than a week ago, I honestly didn't expect what would follow it.  I talked about seeing the forest through the trees, but then trees kept popping up right in front of me.  Right smack dab where I was about to set my foot every time I was about to take a step. 

My job has been absolutely insane this week; I won't bore you with gruesome details, but I will assure you that gruesome is an apt description.  Billy's job has been crazy too. So, we're both stretched thin and stressed out.  Then, Audrey got in trouble at school, the kind where mom and dad have to sign paperwork and send it back to school.  And, if you think Barrett was free from the bad mojo, well, he is constipated, which is making him whiney and crabby. 

The hits just kept coming, and there were so many tress, that I got to the point where I thought the only way I could go was up.  So, that's exactly what I did, figuratively speaking.  I prayed...a lot. 

A few months ago at church, we had a sermon series on lament in the Psalms.  We talked about how the words of the Psalms are a guide to us in times of joy and sorrow.  So, I now I turn to the Psalms as my guide, and I let myself cry out. This week has been terrible.  I am tired.  I feel defeated.  I don't know where to go from here.  I feel lost and surrounded with no where to go. I am wondering if I am fighting a losing battle.   

In the Words of Psalm 13:

How long, Lord?  Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will the enemy triumph over me?

So, I am turning to the Lord.  I lay the challenges and worries down at his feet.  I ask him how he will use this, how he will use me, for his purpose and his glory.  I ask him to help me see it.  To guide me to it and get me through this.

 

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"

and my foes will rejoice when I fall

And finally, I turn my attention back to the Lord.  I find my perspective again.  These are human problems.  Earthly problems.  While they may seem insurmountable to me, they are nothing my God cannot handle.  So, I hand those problems over, and I lift up my praise instead.  I thank God for his unending love, for listening to my hurt, and for his grace.  I remember that I am not alone and that this is not a battle I am fighting alone.   

But I trust in  your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord's praise

for he has been good to me.   

 

So, now we enter a long holiday weekend.  It's a much needed time of rest and recuperation.  I pray that God will use this time to bring our family closer to each other and closer to him.  

Perspective

We all have those days when it is hard to see the forest through the trees. Things have been a little crazy around here the past few weeks, but fortunately, God is continually reminding us of the important things in our lives.  It's through these little blessings that he helps me maintain my sanity.  Ironically, many of those blessings come from some of the very things that can also cause the most stress: my family and my job.  So, how is it that one minute I can feel like my children are going to make me go crazy, and the next they give me a hug or make me a card that makes me forget the craziness that preceded that moment?  Perspective. 

When I get that hug, it isn't my circumstances, my mental state, or even my children that have changed.  What has changed is my perspective on what is happening around me. In that moment, I am reminded that my children are not evil minions intent on taking away my peace and sanity.  Instead, they are young human beings learning to find their way in the world while making some mistakes along the way.  With that reminder, I am able to refocus on the fact that God has entrusted me with rearing those young humans and helping them find their way.  I am so thankful for those moments and that God will never stop helping me refocus my perspective.

So, next time Barrett is wearing his shorts on his head instead of his bottom, I will laugh it off instead of getting stressed out and try to get some photos that aren't blurry so I can show them to his future wife someday!