The gift of rest.

I don't even know where to begin sharing about my trip to Belize.  One, I am incredibly thankful that all my flights were on time and I didn't have trouble finding gates and such.  After travelling with Scotty for as long as I have, I kinda felt nervous about doing international travel on my own.  It's always fun for me to land in Miami and think, "I'm in the States!"  Everything is greener, more organized and bigger.  After walking around the airport for a bit, I even found Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts- my main goal for that leg of my trip.  Touching down in Belize was exciting, but the trip wasn't over yet.  After disembarking, I pushed through the wooden doors in the airport labeled "connecting flights" and met a wave of hot, humid air and a sea of bright, Caribbean colors welcoming me from the tourist shops all around.  I started regretting that I hadn't changed out of my jeans in Miami, but the AC in MIA had me shivering until I boarded the plane.  Before long, I was walking back out onto the tarmac with about 6 other people to jump on board Tropic Air's tiny plane that would fly me to the island where sweet times awaited me.  I kept my eyes closed and breathed deeply through my mouth and nose, expecting the tiny plane to bump and leap through the air, making me nauseous as other small planes have done in the past.  At one point, I was wondering if we had taken off yet, so I opened my eyes and found we were smoothly sailing over turquoise waters.  I watched as we flew over small, uninhabited islands and chuckled when on one side of the plane a small, grey cloud was dumping water on one land mass while on the other side, those islands were basking in cloudless skies.  15 mins later, we landed in San Pedro and my dear friend Ally met me with her joyful smile and a big hug.  The next few days were a blur of sun, warmth, humidity, wind, sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, meeting new friends, laughing, crying, talking, praying, and resting.  The YWAM base where Ally lives and works must be one of the most relaxing places on Earth (especially when you are there sans children and responsibilities).  It didn't take long for me to unwind and learn to enjoy being still again, reading, staring at the incredibly calm, green-blue waters and just being.  I needed to learn how to do that again and the Lord took that opportunity to speak to my heart and to reunite me with my dearest friend who brings life and joy wherever she is.  I skyped a few times with my family while I was away, but felt so confident in my capable husband, that I never felt distracted by concern for the girls.  What a precious gift to a mom of young kids- time away to be alone and with an encouraging friend on the beach.  For that week, I wanted to be no where else.

Trying to get a good pic with the wind whipping our hair...reminds me of the beauty of laughing with a good friend.