Delight

Now more than ever, we need to pour the light of our souls into the world. We need to gather all the goodness and love and forgiveness and playfulness and joy and gratitude and attention and encouragement and silliness and presence we can and offer it to everyone we meet. We need to reconnect with our own delight, and we need the delight of others."

~Travis West, "The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Your Life for Rest, Connection, and Delight"

I surely love volunteering at CARTI. Last week when I showed up, the waiting room was eerily quiet and almost empty. I quickly learned that the oncologist was absent and the chemo side of the building wasn't giving infusions. When I asked what else I could do to help, one of the employees led me to a storage room and asked if I could label and restock bottles of Ensure for patient nutrition. This involved taking all of the bottles off the shelf and reloading the shelf in order of expiration date. I delighted in helping this way! It was a small offering of my presence and gratitude and attention.

Sometimes answering the question: "What delights you?" can be challenging. Not only does volunteering at CARTI bring me delight, but so does growing my own food and cooking it to share with the people I love. The chocolate beauty sweet peppers I harvested today are beautiful and delicious! Tonight, they will go into creamy chicken pasta salad to bring my family delight.

Rest and Work

"Sabbath sustained me as torpor sustains the hummingbird. Further, daily rhythms of rest equipped me to faithfully carry out the work God called me to do without overextending myself. Beginning my day in His Word rather than my email inbox, enjoying walks around my neighborhood between tasks, and pausing to pray and invite his restful presence into my day reminded me He is the one carrying out this work at his pace and for his glory. I can rest and work in vital harmony."

~Eryn Lynum, "The Nature of Rest"

Daily rhythms of rest around here look like walking out to my little garden to check for ripe veggies in between cello students or as I'm hanging out clothes to dry. Growing food always reminds me that "He is the one carrying out this work at his pace and for his glory"!

Making time to sit down and eat lunch together on the patio also helps us slow down and reconnect in the midst of days filled with summer school, advisor checking, Zoom meetings, and cello students.

Maintaining a rhythm of moving our bodies each morning helps keep us strong and healthy, equipped to fulfill each task the Lord gives us throughout the day.

Day 15 of 40

We knew we would be on the road more today as we meandered our way home, so we intentionally stopped at the Fred Berry Conservation Education Center to hike a trail. The center is closed on the weekends, but the trails are open.

We hiked along most of the Creek Bluff Trail, it was underwhelming and very hot with little shade, but we enjoyed the opportunity to stretch our legs.

Our next stop was Bull Shoals Caverns, a more intimate experience than other caverns we have visited.

No huge rooms, just small spaces where we could have touched the walls on both sides. But we didn't, because living caves don't like human touch :)

On the way home, we took another stretch break. This time we stopped in the little town of Leslie, which is making a huge effort to revitalize its cute downtown.

We found some beautiful hand carved nativity sets and a gorgeous Noah's Ark, hand carved by Charlie's Dream. I may have to add these to my grandparent stash for the future!

We always take food with us so we don't have to spend money to eat out on trips like this. But the last place we visited was the new ice cream shop downtown: Buffalo River's Lickety Split. Definitely get the ice cream nachos. The "chips" are broken pieces of waffle cones, what a great idea to steward your resources well! The scoops are huge enough that we share the nachos and both ate plenty. What a treat!

Days 13 and 14 of 40

We are way behind on our 40 days of dates for 40 years of friendship, but that's okay. Our friendship and our marriage are still going strong! For our anniversary, we decided to go back to one of our favorite cabins in the middle of nowhere: Beit Shalom.

On the way to the cabin Friday afternoon, we stopped at one of my favorite roadside stands and bought several watermelons. They often have cantaloupe and corn and tomatoes and allllll of the local delicious summer produce. I read "The Sabbath Way" out loud and we discussed as Aaron chauffeured. 

Saturday morning began with anniversary sourdough discard blueberry muffins gifted by my favorite farmer. I watched the mist slowly move down the valley. A slow, peaceful start to the day was exactly what we needed.

Due to some family generosity, we made a last minute decision to float the middle Buffalo River. We had never floated this section before.

The river was full of people and music, and I enjoyed my husband using his incredible skills he has honed from paddling a dugout canoe around the Pacific Ocean. I hardly had to pick up a paddle!

I just soaked up the view and the love flowing behind me as Aaron deftly steered and navigated the busy river. 

"Delight is both a trailhead for and a signpost along the Sabbath way. If a Sabbath practice is whittled down to its irreducible core, what remains is largely a commitment to making room in one's life to recover a sense of delight." ~Travis West

We pulled into this shallow cave for lunch and chatted while we pulled out veggies and hummus to go along with our cold brats from Shaky K Farm. I lost all sense of time and didn't even check my watch. One of the concepts in "The Sabbath Way" is that time slows down or even ceases to exist when we are truly resting. I haven't experienced that in a very long time. My brain naturally runs to the next thing on my to-do list. This day was full of delight and joy and connection, truly a much needed day of rest and play.

Old Friends

The Brigglers are special friends. The kind of friends that we don't get to see often enough, but when we do, it's easy to go deep quickly. And authencity comes easily. They make family a priority, so almost every summer the Brigglers come to Arkansas, and we are beneficiaries.

We drove up to Longpool Falls together on a Sunday afternoon. The last time we were there for my birthday, the water was high. Not in July! The creek bed was dry, and the waterfall was only a little dribble. But the fellowship was sweet, and the hike was still beautiful. 

 

The following Tuesday, these precious friends joined us for Taco Tuesday and games. No pictures, but lots of tacos and Goat Lords and ping pong in the garage and laughter and puzzling on our current Dickens jigsaw puzzle.

On My Bookshelf

I'm slowly chewing bites of "The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Your Life for Rest, Connection, and Delight" by Travis West. This book is going to take me a while to annotate. The theme of Sabbath and rest keeps popping up in my life, especially since my cancer diagnosis. Rest, connection, and delight are countercultural here in America, but as I learn more about the neuroscience that undergirds God's plan, rest, connection, and delight make sense if we want to flourish.

I also discovered Eryn Lynum's "The Nature of Rest". I prefer paper book, but our library only has a digital copy. This daily devotional is the perfect companion to "The Sabbath Way". I would love to read these books along with others and discuss the impact they are making on our daily lives. Anyone want to join me?

Choate July Birthday Celebrations

Spontaneity is not my strongest character trait. But I did have a wild and crazy idea in conjunction with the Choate birthday extravaganza. All eight of us in Meat Cheato (that's Team Choate with the letters scrambled up) hadn't been together since Christmas. 

A few days before we were scheduled to meet to celebrate July birthdays, I decided to ask if everybody could come the night before, meet in the middle, and spend the night together in an Air BnB (so thankful for plasma money!) So, everybody made sacrifices of time, energy, and money so we could squeeze in a few extra hours together.

We laughed played games and took a hike and got locked out of one of the bedrooms late at night when the doorknob broke. At least there was a window to crawl through.

With four cars and eight people, we mingled for the hour drive, our car was full of chatting and catching up, while a couple of the introverts drove solo to get some peace and quiet before a day filled with celebrating cherished people.

Five birthdays in July (although Aaron's dad was also a July birthday, which made six birthdays in one month!) is a fabulous reason to gather.

 

Sarah made a beautiful, delicious carrot cake, and Katherine made a moist chocolate roulade, which was gluten free since it had no flour. All four of Oma's kids were together for the first time since Opa's funeral, and we think it was only the fourth time in twenty-six years.

I sure do love these people a lot :)

July Garden Bounty

My little backyard garden isn't producing much this year. Too much shade! But I'm grateful for the farmers market and my friends who faithfully bring their abundance to share.

Eggplant recently morphed into something that looked fancy, but was simple to make. Eggplant Involtini with Moroccan Marinara Sauce was delicious!

My long beans are finally producing. They love the heat and humidity that July offers them.

And we have a volunteer butternut squash that grew out of the compost! What a good reminder that no matter how hard I try to make things grow, God is the one who does the work and provides the bounty.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

What a treat to take my mom out for coffee for her birthday! We tried a cute coffee shop downtown and split a brownie four ways. 

Living near family again is a joy I don't take for granted, especially as Sarah prepares to move back to the Solomon Islands full time. 

My mom requested a lemon cake similar to the one Sarah made for her in 2012. Sarah has evolved considerably as a baker in the last thirteen years, so she made this cake without a recipe. The lemon curd filling made the cake flavorful, moist, and irresistible!

Sweet Sabbath

"Each week as we experiment with embracing our enough-ness, reconnecting to our bodies, decoupling our value from our productivity, and receiving the gifts of rest and delight, we are partnering with the Spirit in discovering the abundant life Jesus came to offer us."

~Travis West, "The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Your Life for Rest, Connection, and Delight"

My friend, Tanya, planted nasturtium seeds and grew some for my birthday present. The bright orange blossoms begin to unfold this week, and every time I see them, I receive the "gifts of rest and delight".

Something that helps me reconnect with my body and decouple my value from my productivity is pushing preschoolers on our backyard swing. Listening to them squeal and ask for more over and over and over brings me joy and encourages me not to look at my watch or worry about my long list of things to do. The Holy Spirit uses these precious kiddos to discover the "abundant life that Jesus came to offer" in fresh, new ways.

 

More Moving

To help with moving the last pieces of furniture from Houston to Kansas City, my mom exchanged her vehicle and trailer for Benjamin's car. 

We had the delightful task of driving Benjamin's car to meet Hannah and Benjamin and swap vehicles again. They planned to attend a wedding in NW Arkansas, so we made a day trip and met them last weekend. We took some time to hike along Lake Alma together.

Exploring was so much fun! And the conversations dove deep and sweet as we hiked.

Patience, Presence, and Play

"The Sabbath teaches us that time is love and shows us the power of living with patience, presence, and play."

 ~Travis West, "The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Your Life for Rest, Connection, and Delight"

This summer season has been unexpectedly busy. Mostly with facilitating relocations. We're grateful for the flexibility to be available for our young adults and friends who find themselves moving recently.

 Last Sunday, Benjamin utilized the Choate Bed and Breakfast, arriving in the middle of night and leaving early in the morning with my mom's vehicle and trailer to finish moving the last pieces of furniture from Houston to Kansas City.

We joined my aunt and uncle for lunch in Hazen. Time with them is always sweet. Samuel and Katherine made music together.

Elizabeth and I took a quick walk, doing our best to get back to the house before the growing dark clouds and rain caught us.

At First Baptist Church in Hazen, Aaron shared about our Bible translation work with the Lavukaleve project. We enjoy playing games and awarding prizes to help inject a little bit of fun.

This time, we added some games from "The Price is Right", like Up, Down, Stay the Same, but using Bible translation figures instead of prices :) Our Sabbath may have been busy, but it was still a day filled with patience, presence, and play.

Saturday Satisfaction

"Vertical awe puts my heart at ease. It gives my soul rest. It produces contentment and satisfaction." ~Paul David Tripp, "Awe: Why it Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do"

Saturday mornings are for walking around the farmers market, saying hello to my farmer friends, and grabbing beautiful, delicious produce and meat. One of my favorite farmers knows we like to eat pumpkin greens, so when she has them available, she always sets some aside for us :)

Rest, contentment, satisfaction. Regardless of my activities, I want my life to be characterized by those three things. Keeping my awe vertical instead of horizontal goes a long way towards building rest, contentment, and satisfaction in my life. 

A baby shower for Schalchlin cousins at one of our oldest and most faithful supporting churches? Yes, please. What a joy to watch community come together to encourage this young family! We caught up with people we haven't seen in a while, grabbed lots of hugs, and soaked up the sweet atmosphere.

And the rest of the Saturday we spent shelling purple hull peas. We just finished the last of the 2024 peas, so the timing is perfect for the next batch to go in the freezer. And in our tummies!

 

Sweet Sabbath

"[Sabbath] wants to be the metronome that establishes and maintains our life's rhythm." 

~Travis West, "The Sabbath Way"

I'm marinating in this idea that the Sabbath pace informs and directs the week's rhythm, that we carry that pace and peace with us from Sunday to Sunday. West's book is giving me many meaty ideas to ponder.