What We Did Instead of Church

I love going to church.  I look forward to gathering together with other Christians and falling into place among a great crowd of worshipers.  I get excited when we stand together and hear God's word read aloud, and then sit together while our Pastor leads us through Scripture and applies it to our lives.  I love the unspoken connection I feel with all the familiar faces each week.  So, just so you know, this is not about not liking church.

But this morning when my husband and I rolled out of bed, I know we both felt exhausted of living like "ships in the night."  Lately, his workload has kept him constantly busy and he often comes home late, after Annika and I are already in bed.  I know he is mentally and physically tired, and I'm just tired of not getting to hang out.  So when, after breakfast, we somehow all three ended up back in our bed together, I suggested maaaybe staying home today and he didn't argue.  We lounged around a little while longer, he fixed Annika a second bowl of Cheerios and then we walked across the street to our duck pond.  Annika and I decided that the ducks and geese are not pets, but rather "her wild things."

It was so nice to take it easy.  To walk together in the almost-too-chilly morning by the water, watching Annika explore or teaching her new things to pretend.  She loves to pretend-fish, and this girl knows the whole process. She casts, she reels, she waits, she catches something, she reels it in with a fight, she hands it to Daddy, they cut off its head, she brings it to Mommy, we put it in the pan with some butter, cook it over the fire, and eat it together.  And I'm not sure where she learned about hunting, but today she was all about searching through the thicket with a stick-gun looking for lions to shoot. (Only the mean ones, of course.)

We ended up circling the whole lake, fishing and hunting and exploring all the way around.  Annika even gathered up sticks to add to the stick pile she keeps by the house.  (She and Daddy recently created some stick art with some of her pile. I sincerely like it!)

By the time we got home, I was actually behind schedule for preparing the huge spaghetti dinner that I volunteered to cook.  So, the slow, easy morning didn't last long, but it was well worth it.  We both see how Annika delights in the times we get away from everything and take time to just be with her, and -as cheesy as it sounds- we treasure those times, too.

Showing off her stick art