Nashville

There was some point early on in 2013 that Natalie and I realized that being a pastor's wife can be exhausting (though I adore being the wife of my pastor). After planting our campuses at the start of the year, we discovered that our new roles in ministry were much different than the roles we'd played before. While being incredibly fulfilling and rewarding, it is tough. Natalie mentioned in passing one day that she'd heard about a pastor's wives retreat happening in the fall, and we longingly talked about how great that'd be to go together to learn and recharge. We dreamed and then we just kinda let it go, as we do with many of the wonderful trip plans we come up with. The subject resurfaced a month or two later as I was talking with Aaron one day. He told me, "You and Natalie need to do this. You really should go." I went back and forth between giddiness and doubt--should we or shouldn't we? But with a lot of encouragement and support from the guys, we were able to go!

The Leading and Loving It Retreat was in Nashville Tuesday to Thursday, so we decided to leave on Sunday afternoon and make a week of it. Our first night, we stayed in Howe with my parents. Monday, we drove on and stayed in Little Rock for the night. We spent the evening walking the River Market District and ate fried green tomatoes and fried chicken at Gus's, and it was great!

On the road in Arkansas

My first fried green tomatoes in Little Rock. Heavenly!

Tuesday morning, we got on the road early and headed for Nashville. We went straight to the retreat and, despite finding out that they sat us at two different tables (on purpose), had a wonderful first day. I was touched by a lot (which I may or may not unpack here at a later date), but I really loved hearing Lisa Harper speak. She was funny and engaging and she spoke truth that I am still chewing on, even now. Once day one was complete, we went and checked into the house we had rented just down the street from the retreat. It was a suite in the back of a house downtown, and it was a great place to stay.

I was happy to discover that Natalie and I basically run on the same schedule. We generally got tired about the same time, and we both woke up pretty early. (Although, before the trip, I'd had grand visions that I would be sleeping in late every single day since I didn't have kids there to take to school or to wake me up hollering for a towel because they forgot to get one before getting into the shower. But alas... I just wake up early--kids or no kids.) All of that to say, we were up and ready pretty early on Wednesday morning, so we decided to drive out from downtown Nashville a bit to try the Loveless Cafe, which Nat had heard wonderful things about. I want to confirm that all of these wonderful things were true. Except we didn't see any famous people. Which I was bummed about. But the biscuits and hash brown casserole more than made up for it.

Day two of the retreat was good, but not my favorite. I really enjoyed the worship though, and there was a session or two that I really enjoyed about marriage and ministry.

Breakfast at the Loveless Cafe. Yummy!

Someone suggested the Loveless Cafe in Nashville, and it was amazing!

They gave us tons of free stuff at the beginning of each day of the retreat!

That night, we decided to go explore Nashville a bit. We walked downtown and took in the "flavor" of Nashville. We walked wide-eyed down Broadway, it was something to behold. There were neon signs everywhere, a band playing in nearly every window, and music coming out of every door you walked past. It was pretty cool. We stopped for a nice dinner, and then walked some more, but by then we were absolutely frozen and tried to get back to the car as fast as we could.

Broadway in Nashville... there's a band in almost every window!

Day three started off with coffee and a pumpkin scone at Starbucks, and everything about the retreat that day was spectacular. Truly. In so many ways. Natalie Grant did a concert and spoke to us some. I had some great conversations with my table group. And Holly Furtick gave a talk that really touched me and stuck with me. Oh, and as a bonus, Nat and I both won prizes in a raffle--back to back. The retreat was over at noon, and we left feeling encouraged, equipped, and knowing that we were not alone in our unique struggles. We hopped in the car and headed south (first to lunch in Franklin--where I spilled tomato basil soup all over myself--and then to the coast of Mississippi). We had a lot of good conversation on that drive unpacking all that we had heard and all that we felt like God might be speaking to us. The last bit of the drive was a bit interminable, but we finally made it to our hotel in Biloxi and went straight to bed.

Friday morning, we got up early and got on the road. By that  point, we were just exhausted by all the travel and all the emotion of the week.  We stopped at the beach in Biloxi to put our toes in the sand and take a few pictures, but we were pretty ready to see our husbands and kids, so we didn't stay long. We drove homeward, singing along with the radio (or iPod or whatever) nearly the whole way, and decided that crossing the Texas border may be one of the most discouraging things ever. You feel like you're home and then you realize that you're still hours and hours from home. But we made it home late Friday afternoon and we were received by incredibly happy husbands and kids who missed us maybe as much as we missed them, and it was the perfect end to an amazing week!

A stop at the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi

I feel so incredibly lucky to have Natalie & Jason who, even though they are at a different church, are walking through the same things we are. I think it's a rare thing. It was also good to see that same truth on a broader scale, being in a room of 400 other women in ministry.

"We get to work for God. Who gets to do that?!"

-Holly Furtick

It was a great trip, and I am thankful on so many levels that I got to have that experience AND that I got to do it with Natalie! She's such an amazing woman/sister/friend and I am immensely blessed!

Mommy's Shuttle Service

For years, I’ve heard mom’s refer to themselves as a shuttle service, taxi cab, chauffer… but I have to admit, I never really felt that way before. And what’s more, I/we committed early on not to live life that way—kids being part of a million different activities/clubs/sports, and just shuffling various family members from one place to another. There’s no need to crowd our lives like that, I said. And I still stand by that. Except here’s the crazy thing… it totally sneaks up on you. After a nice and laid back summer, we told our kids that they could each choose one thing to be a part of. Abby chose piano lessons, and Carson chose karate. So we sign everyone up. Then I realize, that will actually entail three nights of the week (TWH), not just two. Oh well. Then last week, we added after school tutoring to Tuesdays and Thursdays for Abby, and I’m feeling pretty outa’ whack.
I feel bad because the second we get home, I become a drill sergeant. “Go do your homework. Have you done your reading time? Where is your reading log? Okay, now clean your room. Stop playing right now, we’re in a hurry! You’re not done with your homework? You said you were done! We’ve got to go in five minutes. Where are your shoes? Just do your reading in the car and let’s go!” (Did you hear me escalating with each question?)
Deep breaths.
In a moment of honesty, I know I can’t really get on to them much for not being “on top of it”. I’m a bit of a distracted mess right now, myself. I feel like I can’t focus and do any one thing well (nevermind the two, three, four things that I have on my plate). And I don’t know how to navigate this phase, except to say:

1. God, help us. And I mean that not as an expression, but a prayer.
2. It is just a phase. Life has it’s busy seasons and it’s slow seasons. In December, we’ll take a break from karate, and tutoring will also be over. And we’ll re-evaluate it all when spring rolls around.
3. Kids, go play for a while. When we get home, just go be kids. Homework can wait a while, and the house can just be messy--go have fun.

I don’t want to miss (or ruin) this stage of life with my kids. How do you navigate the craziness?

Paris, Day 2

Our next morning in Paris, I woke up feeling much better. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (walking the 700 stairs to the second platform before riding the elevator to the top). It was one of Aaron's "bucket list" items, so even though it was a bit terrifying (for me), it was worth it, and admittedly pretty spectacular. (I seem to be missing photos from the top, so I'll have to track those down.) Afterwards, we went again to Marais, then to Montparnasse. Then on total impulse toward the end of the day, we decided to take a train to Versailles, which was spectacular, and I only wish we had made plans to spend at least a whole day there. Late that night, we ended up back at the apartment, cooking dinner with the leftover ingredients from the night before. An hour or so later, though, we decided it hadn't quite filled us up, so we headed back out to find a bit more to eat. We ended up at McDonalds, which I'm pretty sure is wrong in about 1,000 ways, but at that moment it was perfect. I think we just wanted something familiar, and to not have to stumble through a broken French-English conversation. I wish I'd had a picture from the outside looking in--the two of us dressed to go out for the evening, sitting together over a burger, fries, and a large Diet Coke shared between us. Again, I'm pretty sure it's a sin to eat at McDonald's while in Paris, but in that moment, it was just about perfect as far as we were concerned.

Paris City Hall

Notre Dame

Chateau de Versailles

Versailles

City of Lights

Paris was lovely. So beautiful. So full of history. And as you walk around, you really do get the sense that it's a city that embraces relationships and just being and enjoying life. I never saw anyone sitting around and staring at their phone (unless they were alone on the metro), ever. The cafes are always full of people leisurely enjoying their meals and laughing and talking with friends or lovers. They don't hurry through any of it. I enjoyed our time there, but I did feel as though we hurried through it (and what choice did we have?). If I ever return, I want to stay longer so that I can just take it all in... and I want to have a basic understanding of French. (Even though most people there did speak English, it was just stressful not speaking the language.)

Paris, Day 1

First of many shots of the Eiffel Tower. It's kind of hard not to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It's everywhere you look somehow.

Us in front of the Lourve. I don't feel good at all (obviously).

We drove in late Saturday night from Belgium into Paris, and didn't get to bed until about 2:00am (after meeting the apartment owner for keys, finding a gas station to fill up the rental car, returning the rental car, walking back to the apartment, and calling the kids to say hello). The next morning, we slept until 9:00 (or was it 10:00?) and just lounged around. The rest of our trip had been so go go go that we hadn't taken any time to just relax. Hunger and excitement eventually drew us out of the apartment and we found ourselves walking the streets of Paris with fresh French pastries in hand. We spent the day just walking the city and being amazed at how beautiful and historic and big Paris was in so many ways. The Eiffel Tower was only about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Our plan was to go to the top, but it was Sunday and the lines were outrageous, so we kept on walking and saw the Louvre, the Jardins des Tuileries, Notre Dame, and about a thousand other noteworthy sites. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe under the trees at the gardens. Classic Paris.

I had a killer headache, so that afternoon we ended up going back to the apartment for the evening. I laid down in front of the fan because, really, it's the only thing in the world that sounded good to me. (And then I cried because I was in Paris and all I wanted to do was lay in bed.) While I laid there all miserable, Aaron went out to get stuff to cook dinner at the apartment, which ended up being quite the ordeal since most shops and butchers and bakeries are closed on Sundays. But finally (after eventually finding an butcher open and managing a conversation in Spanish of all things), he came home with fresh pasta, proscuitto, and basil and got to cooking. Dinner was so delicious, and I think I loved eating there with him more than any other cafe or french restaurant we might have visited otherwise. We sat at our little table with the windows open, and even though I was still feeling bad, it was good.

Later that night, I was feeling slightly better (or was at least propelled by the fact that my future self would absolutely kick my behind for laying in bed when I was in Paris), and we got out again to explore the "City of Lights". It really was pretty magical exploring the city and areas like the Latin Quarter at night. Gorgeous. Romantic. And there were crepes. (Filled with Nutella, might I add.) I still had very little energy, but I loved walking hand in hand with Aaron through the streets and laying my head on his shoulder as we rode the metro. No words necessary. Just us and Paris.

The Lourve

A guy juggling pigeons. Yeah. Pretty crazy!

Belgium

The second leg of our trip (after Ireland), we spent in Belgium and France. We arrived in France late Friday night and stayed in a cheap hotel in Beauvais for a few hours of sleep. Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Leuven, Belgium where my friend Kristien lives. (She was my best friend while I was in New Zealand, and we hadn't seen each other in 14 years.) When we arrived, she and her boyfriend, Jan, served us a traditional Belgian breakfast of yummy pastries and coffee, and then drove us to Antwerp to experience some of the best of Belgium. It was such an incredible day, and it was over too soon. There's still a lot on the agenda for our next trip there, but we did manage to fit in a ton!

• Reuzenstoet This parade of giants is a tradition that is over 300 years old. Giants are a huge part of Belgian folklore, and this event only happens once a year. We just happened to be there on the perfect day!
• Cathedral of Our Lady This was a spectacular cathedral that also housed a huge number of paintings by Rubens.
• The home of artist, Rubens
• Walk through the Grote Markt and all over
• French Fries at Frituur No. 1 (did you know the french fry was invented in Belgium?)
• Belgian waffles
• Belgian chocolates

A photo of us with some of the "giants" from Reuzenstoet (which apparently doesn't happen much, but our friend, Kristien, told them that we came "all the way from America" to see them and we really wanted a picture. The locals were a bit disgruntled when they asked to also have a picture and were dismissed. Oops!)

Cathedral of Our Lady

Cathedral of Our Lady

Cathedral of Our Lady

Grote Markt & City Hall

Aaron and I at Grote Markt

Antwerp and Cathedral of Our Lady

Antwerp from the top of the MAS

Aaron and I at the top of the MAS

Our wonderful hosts, Jan and Kristien

Ireland: Annestown to Galway

Carrick on Suir

Aaron and I on one of the towers at Bunratty Castle

Bunratty Castle

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Ireland: Dublin to Annestown

Dunhill Castle

Our cottage in Annestown