As we pass our 2nd
anniversary here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, I’ve been reflecting on
the incredible change that has taken place in our lives. We are in a new place, making new friends,
participating in a new church, living in a house unlike anything we ever have
experienced, and we are learning a new rhythm of life.
How can anyone summarize all of
this?
For me, the most succinct way
to distill all of this down is captured in the title of this post: “The Absence of a Post-Vacation Letdown’”.
Here is what I mean.
By God’s grace, we live in a
place of beauty. It is green here all
year round. It is a place where we can
work hard and be frenetic if we want…but it is a place where we easily can step
back from perpetual busyness and experience peace. And tranquility. And silence.
We live in a country setting in the heart of town. We can be outside of town in mere
minutes.
And it is green. Oh, so green.
We have learned that for us,
the green of God’s creation is life-giving.
Our life in Southern California
was comfortable and familiar. It was
home; the place of our birth; the place where we raised our family. It was a place of rich, long-standing
friendships; people that we now miss intensely.
We lived in the center of an entertainment mecca, where there always was
something to do. But it was expensive
and crowded…and it was green for only a few months of the year.
Getting established here has kept
us busy, so our times away have been few.
Other than an overnight trip here or there, we had not taken a real
vacation until we spent a few days camping in the mountains this past summer. We were about 75 miles from home, and it felt
as if we were in a different world. And
after a few days of kayaking, driving through parts of the Cascades, and taking
long walks with our dog, we felt completely relaxed and at ease.
In the past, on the last
morning of a trip, I would find myself getting anxious about the return
home. I would be regretting the end of
vacation and the return to our frenetic (though fruitful) life. I would be planning our departure times to
try to miss the worst of the LA-area traffic.
I knew that we would be coming home to summer weather that was hot and
dry; that we would be driving past hills that were brown; that inevitably –
despite my best planning – at some point we would be sitting in
bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-5 or I-10 or I-15.
In other words, coming home after
a vacation was a real let-down.
And all that changed this past
summer. As we packed up the RV and drove
back into town, we passed from the green of the
Cascades to the green of the Valley. We
traveled from one kind of beauty to another kind
of beauty. We left a place of vacation
rest and returned to a home that also is a place of rest.
There simply was no
post-vacation letdown.
This was a transforming
experience; another unexpected blessing of our move to this place. Another reminder that the Heavenly Father
knows what is best for each of His children…and He knew this place would be the
best for us.
In this place of beauty, where
creation is green and lush, God is allowing us to find some space and to
experience life in a whole new way.
We are busy and productive, and
we are at peace…whether away or at home.
-
Bruce
