Listen. Do You Hear the Silence?

This week is our church's Kids Camp. Camp is a family affair in the Rocking Pony home. This year, it's just the two younger boys in camp as actual campers. Becky is a counselor, and Josh has been assigned to be Micah's personal aide. Sam and I are both helpers/hand lenders for the daily activities. See? Complete family involvement. And it's so much fun. That water slide picture on Monday was from camp. The slide is 200' down a hillside, complete with switchbacks. It's instant smiles and giggles.

But this year circumstances have conspired against me, and despite my deepest desires and intentions, I can't be there. I am home instead. Can I just say that after an incredibly busy summer it's rather nice to sit and relax a bit? And it's so very nice to clean the floors and still have them clean an hour later. It's also nice to not have the sink fill with dishes as the dishwasher is cleaning Round #1. And I am completely enjoying the fact that I don't have to clean up messes, pick up toys, do laundry every hour on the hour, wonder where Micah is yet again, escape outdoors to be able to hear a phone conversation, worry about the chaos I'll find if I sew, or even cook for the masses.

So this is what life is like without kids. The clean house is awesome. The quiet is restful. I don't feel overwhelmed with responsibility.

I miss my kids.

I haven't quite reached boredom yet but I can see it coming.

I am grateful for this week of thwarted plans and much needed rest to teach me that a clean house is very nice, but a busy home filled with kids and chaos is so much nicer.



Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.       Mark 6:31

10 comments:

HalfAsstic.com said...

Mark really had something there, didn't he?
Yes, it IS nice... but, only for a while at a time. You need a hobby you can immerse yourself in when these times pop up. ....something messy? ;-)

The Sports Mama said...

I have apparently learned that lesson....

....my house is NEVER clean. Seriously. We can no longer have guests over....we keep losing them in the rubble.

Anonymous said...

Love the post. Love the scripture verse.

Stephanie said...

:) Sometimes we need a wee breather from our crazy days to appreciate them! Enjoy the quiet, you deserve a break.

Roger Miller said...

Amen to that! :)

caramama said...

It's really amazing to me that longed-for peace and quiet only makes us miss our kids and their chaos more!

Enjoy yourself while you can. You know the craziness will be back soon!

Anonymous said...

caramama hit the nail on the head! I wish for nothing more than an afternoon to myself, and yet I know that if I ever actually got it, I would miss the noise, the chaos, and the sheer joy that is a busy household. I am so glad that you were able to have this time to yourself and hope it provided you the energy you will need to get through the start of the new school year!

Karen Deborah said...

yep my empty nest has had me depressed, but now I have a puppy to mess it up.

James Bainbridge said...

I love the scripture verses with photos - very nice touch!

Teresa Dawn said...

Sorry you can't go this year. It does sound fun, but enjoy the pieace and quiet :)