Does anyone else love scrolling through the “Memories” posts on Facebook? It’s usually how I start every morning and love seeing what we did as a family years ago. 2 years ago yesterday on June 20, 2016, my husband and I decided to go hiking. For the first time. One kid was at camp and the other was busy and we had a day off work so we drove to a forest near our house and did some exploring (on clearly marked trails :)).
I’ll admit, we still aren’t big hikers and this hike was by far the easiest we’ve ever been on, but it was the start of something. That day we figured out that we love going on adventures together.
Google the word “adventure” and here’s what you will see:
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know if I agree with that definition entirely.
Is it unusual to run to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon? Is it typically hazardous to volunteer as concession workers for our kid’s band program? No! But would my husband and I consider that an adventure? DEFINITELY!
We’ve traveled together and ran many miles together. We have two half-marathon medals hanging from our dresser and memories of our self-ran half-marathon we did to fund raise for a local charity we love. We’ve eaten at 5-star restaurants and jumped in the Atlantic Ocean waves. We’ve explored caves and creeks and plan to see many more wonders on this earth before our time is up. BUT… we’ve also enjoyed many a cup of coffee on our back patio admiring the flowers and the many birds we have as neighbors. We’ve gone on many a car ride to look at houses we could never afford, but love to look at. We love to window shop. We’ll go into a store and dream and plan for things we would like to do in our home in the future and walk out without buying a thing. It’s not about the instant gratification of spending money or having the instagram worthy picture to post… it’s about the time we spend together.
On Tuesday, after our run at the gym, we were walking to our car and noticed the sunrise looked like it was going to be a pretty awesome one. We took off in the car in pursuit of the perfect view. We went to the lake first and that wasn’t the best… the sun still had some trees to pop over before we could see it. Next we took off to a hill about two miles from our home.
There. That was the perfect view… farms and hills and trees and the magnificent sunrise popping up over it all. All the while, we had been talking about life. My MS. Our future. Our fears and our hopes and our prayers. We didn’t have a ton of time. The whole “adventure” took roughly 15 minutes because we had to get back to get ready for work. But we take what we can get.
In this season of life there aren’t any vacations. Or 5-Star dinners. We don’t have a regular date night set. We’re lucky if we go on an official date twice a year! But, there’s a whole lot of living and thriving and enjoying what time we have together.
The point is, it’s all an adventure. Everything. The amazing instagram worthy times and the day-to-day running to the grocery store times. We are so blessed, y’all. I challenge you today to find the adventure in the mundane today. Smile more. Do something crazy generous that no one can repay you for… or better yet, do something generous that no one knows you did! Laugh. Make others laugh. Love and stop keeping score. Give more hugs. Chase after the sunrises (or sunsets if you’re not a morning person :)) and worship God in those unexpected moments.
Not Today, MS 