Gatlinburg Getaway

This past weekend Scott, Luke, and I headed to Gatlinburg with three other couples and their children. These are friends that we have known over ten years, since college-- the guys were in the same fraternity as Scott and their friendships were formed when they pledged together! All of them were also groomsmen in our wedding. There was a total of six kids between all of us ranging in age from seven months to four years!

We were in a wonderful four-bedroom condo, and we had a great time together! Luke did such a good job on the trip up and back and remained on his same eating and sleeping schedule even amidst all the excitement and chaos. He also officially pulled up to a standing position. It seems like he is going to be ready to take off walking soon! It was so fun to watch him interact with the older kids. It is hard to realize and to accept that he is a big boy, too, now.

We stayed up very late each night-- after the kids went to bed. The boys played RISK-- yuck!-- while the girls chatted and caught up on the day-to-day happenings in our stay-at-home lives. It appears that the women of my generation are still in hot pursuit of happiness and finding real meaning and purpose in their lives. I remain amazed that almost every girl I know is struggling in this area. Everything centered around the usual... how motherhood was going-- how to get rid of pacifiers, potty training advice, being exhausted, etc; how housework was going-- the benefits of a maid, time management and organization; how our mental/emotional lives were going; how parenthood had affected our marriages-- for better and for worse... Depression over not losing baby weight yet and having a hard time exercising; Being at the burn-out point because husbands don't help out enough with the kids; Emptiness due to no longer having hobbies or interests or anything activities just for themselves; Frustration over "trying to keep up with the Jones's"; Stress and anxiety over not having enough money from month to month.

There was a good bit of sharing and confession time-- good therapy for all of us! And after everything was said and done, we all agreed that we are very blessed to have such wonderful husbands and children. Our better halves actually volunteered to watch the kids on Saturday while all of us hit the outlet malls and had lunch! We had a great time together leisurely strolling from store to store with no time table or children vying for our attention.

Another trait of our generation has been to allow our schedules to become so busy that we don't make time to nurture these close friendships. We have good intentions, but seldom follow through on them. We think about calling, but don't. We plan to make plans, but put it off for later. We want to get together, but we worry about the kids and their schedules. Thus, we end up with many acquaintances, and few close relationships in our lives because we simply don't make those friends a priority in our lives.

So, spending time with these couples reminded Scott and I of how important these relationships are-- these are the people whose children will grow up with Luke. How fun to be able to share our lives together-- the good and bad-- over the next decades. We have already shared so much-- dating, engagements, graduations, marriages, children, first jobs and homes-- and we still have so much to look forward to!

Jesus had a circle of 12-- including his most intimate friends Peter, James, and John. He evidently realized the importance of surrounding Himself with close relationships during His time here. Yes, He touched the lives of thousands while on earth, but it was His friendships with His disciples that must have been impacted the most. Think of the things they must have experienced together-- events not recorded for us in Scripture. How about the trips they made together, the nights they stayed up late talking and laughing, the nights they spent sharing their fears and anxieties, the moments they cried together, the moments they rejoiced together.... That is what life in Christ is all about... sharing our time here with others.

I will treasure the moments from this past weekend-- listening to the kids yell and scream and cry and run around together. Seeing our husbands having so much fun playing their boring board game and hearing them laugh like teenagers again over the silliest of things. Playing Baby Einstein DVDs again and again. Shopping for food at the local supercenter and cooking meals together. Rounding up all the kids and trying to get a group photo of them before someone had a melt down. Observing those priceless parenthood moments and being amazed that we are "all grown up" now with children of our own. Those care-free college days are truly a thing of the past, but what a wonderful present we are all having now.

We were also very blessed to end the weekend on Sunday night back in Nashville with the amazing couples in our small group. We were having our annual Thanksgiving meal together. How wonderful to think back upon the three years we have spent getting to know these couples and all the things we have already shared with them.

Thank you for wonderful Christian friends, Father. May we be iron sharpening iron in each other's lives. May we challenge each other to be more like You in our marriages as husbands and wives and as parents.