A different pace

Over the holiday weekend, me a couple friends found an Airbnb on a nearby lake only a couple hours from city. If you know us, we typically do much bigger trips, but this time we opted for something a little more low key and it was just what I think I needed. And it even included following the wrong directions and needing to drive an extra 2hrs! That’s a whole different story.

Although we were only there for maybe 24 hours total, they were some of the more restorative 24 hours I’ve had in awhile. It was a nice change of scenery, my routine was different, and we got to not only the outdoors but also just some fun conversations too.

After going the wrong way, we finally ended up there on Sunday night and got some dinner going. The Airbnb had an outdoor grill and so I took it as an opportunity to practice cooking with charcoal for the first time. Definitely a bit different than what I’m use to, but a fun learning experience none the less. After dinner we got to enjoy a nice fire by the lake and just take in the stars and the stillness of the outdoors. No rushing car sounds, no phones digging, and no need to rush to bed because the next day didn’t have a set start time. We just got to be there and take it all in.

The next morning was even better! Where we stayed had a couple of kayaks and I was excited to get out on the lake and take in the morning.

Getting down the water the first thing I noticed was just the stillness of the water with that light early morning mist rolling over it. The sun was just coming up and the breeze coming off the water was nice and cool. Knowing the Oklahoma heat that was coming later, I soaked it in! I paddled a ways out from the shore to where I could get a better view of the sunrise. As a did, there were roosters crowing, birds chirping, and geese calling as they flew overhead. All reverberating in the nearby trees, creating this echo sound that I don’t totally know about to describe but I was in awe of creation for a moment.

Enjoy the stillness of the morning on the water, I lost all track of time. 2 hours had past and finally had to my stomach needing to eat something. Making a quick breakfast with the guys and chatting for a bit, then came more unstructured time to read.

Started in on a book titled, Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23 by Dallas Willard. In short, I haven’t even got past chapter 1, and it’s already kicking by butt and challenging me in some cool ways and I’ll likely write more on what I’m learning through this book at some point.

One bit of text really stuck out to me though; especially given the environment I was. Dallas wrote:

“When the bountiful sufficiency of God in himself and the glorious realm of his kingdom are continually brought before the mind, it puts everything else in its proper place and opens us to a life in which we find God more than capable of supplying everything we need”

And in that moment it, being in the outdoors, not in a hurry to be anywhere or accomplish anything, just how big and sufficient God is and how small the things I choose to let myself worry or get anxious about in comparison. It was a bit of a reality check for me on where does my faith truly stand in those moments that I don’t know what step to take next or how a certain outcome I would like would be achieved, and realize that if I release those feelings to God, who is beyond everything my mind can comprehend, I find that those worries aren’t as big anymore and my mind to renewed with the truth that with this truth, God alone is sufficient.

Having had my spiritual butt kicked a bit, the guys and I went on a search for some adventure and excitement! And oh did we find it. On the more northern part of the lake, there are cliffs you can jump off from and into the deep water below. Now I’m not exactly an adrenaline junkie, but let me just say, that jumping off cliffs that we estimate were between 40-60ft up from the water below, is definitely a good time! There’s the initial mind game you have to play when you stair down at the water from above for the first time, and you have to overcome some internal fears, but once we egged each other on and started jumping off, the fun ensued with my heart always skipping a beat for a second when jumping off.

After having our thrill, it was time to head back and get packed up to go and start the drive home. Though a short trip, the different pace and all the experiences filled me up in many ways! To many more short adventures!