If I could turn back time...

I would go back to around 4:00 this Sunday afternoon.

I had one of those "Kairos" moments. My Georgia mom told me about these moments one time. Here's what it is:

It's a greek word meaning: "a time in between", a moment of undetermined period of time in which "something" special happens (definition from wikipedia)

My definition: It is one of those moments, where you realize, there is no place you'd rather be. Nothing could happen to make the moment more than it is. In that moment, all is right between you and God and you experience a real, honest to goodness peace.

I woke up this morning. Exhausted. A long week of VBS (Surge) and losing a friend to cancer had taken it's toll. My husband was going to be speaking in church and I thought, after church...we'll come home and crash. That's when Paul reminded me we had plans after church.

Plans??? What PLANS?

I just wanted to sleep.

A dear sweet family in our church, the Carmichaels had invited us over for an afternoon cookout. There were other families going that had just been on a recent trip to Israel. Sort of an "Israel reunion". I decided, okay, we'll go, but only for a bit, then we're going home to crash.

Pulling into the loooong driveway that leads up to their beautiful country home, something started happening inside me. Like, I was getting a little giddy. There were bails of hay, so fresh we could smell them when we rolled the window down. The boys started jumping up and down..."we're going to a farm!" We were greeted by Owen Cole who was climbing a plum tree and leaned out to say "hey guys!" Wesley picked up a plum from the field, fed a little to the dog ("Gunner"), and then took a bite himself. Hmmm.

We had an incredible outdoor lunch, right underneath a huge oak tree. The wind was blowing enough so it wasn't hot. The boys played on the ropes and pushed each other on the swing. The perfect boy environment. Good thing too..there were 11 boys there total. And they're all blonde. They look like cousins! Will got stung by a wasp. It was traumatic for a few minutes, but then he realized it was his "FIRST BEE STING" and he was a little proud of himself.

Then the moment...
The dads took the boys down to the ropes and climbing wall and us gals, young and old, sat around under that big oak and talked. Nothing especially important. Just chit chat about picking apples and blackberries. I loved listening to the "southern" in their voices. So soothing. For a moment I looked up at the sky, heard the wind blowing through the trees, the boys in the distance laughing and screaming with delight, birds singing, and women laughing. It just hit me. There's no where I'd rather be right now. It fed my soul. I wanted it to last and last.

I looked over at my friend Chris and told her about the moment I was having. She GOT IT TOO! In fact, she teared up and we both laughed and cried at the same time.

Thank you God for those moments. They are truly a gift. I'll put it in my pocket like a little treasure and carry it with me. And, pull it out every now and then, especially when I think the day's gonna be exhausting and I just wanna throw in the towel. You never know what God has in store for a day. And I thank Him for each moment I'm given.

These are the lovely southern "belles" that made my day. Thank you gals!



All 11 boys!


I love how Wesley is crossing his arms. He's protesting.