Since coming to Immanuel Church, our family has made the Green Lake Getaways an annual event in the summer. It is a short 3 day getaway with our church family. It is filled with worship, fellowship, and rest. Perfect for the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. It is a time to reconnect and reflect with God, family and friends.
Every year the theme and the activities are different. There is always a group activity, which stretches you to work with people you may not know yet. But it's a great way to connect with other families. It makes our big church feel a little smaller and a little more intimate.
I think the thing that amazes me the most is the way God connects with us on this trip. He always knows what we need. This year was no different. I started the trip feeling very depleted and empty. My relationships were feeling strained and I was very discouraged. But God knew actually what I needed and He met me there, in that little corner of Wisconsin, to fill me up. He provided time to talk with my husband. He gave our family time to play and laugh with each other again. He reached out to us through fellow church members, filling up holes left by past experiences. It was truely amazing to watch God work.
He even threw in a bonus of helping my daughter and I face some fears while we were there. My daughter walks on the side of caution. She is not a daredevil and she tends to walk away from anything out of her comfort zone. During this trip we were invited to go boating with some of our friends. When they invited us, they didn't mention anything about going tubing too. Which in hindsight was a good thing, because my daughter, Megan, would never have agreed to tubing. At first she was apprehensive, but her best friend was with her (who by the way is a complete daredevil) and convinced her to give it a try. She had so much fun!! She could not stop smiling and laughing. It was pretty amazing to watch!!
My fear factor experience had to deal with heights and tight, dark spaces. Two of my favorite things, NOT! We had decided to take part in a tour of Judson Tower. Everyone we talked to said the tower tour was a "must" and so we decided do it. Everyone neglected to talk about the climb up to the tower, all we heard about was the "amazing views". Well there's a reason no one talks about the climb. If they did, no sane person would take the tour. Ok, I'm exaggerating, but it was pretty testing on my nerves. There are 80 steps built into a step hill to reach the tower and another 120 steps inside a dark, very narrow spiral staircase up to the top of the tower. Halfway up the tower steps, I felt a panic attack coming on. But I was stuck, because I had people in front of me (one of which was my daughter) and people behind me. I wasn't going anywhere except up, up, and up the horrble staircase of terror. All I could do was pray, pray and pray. Because it was going to take the strength of the Creator to get me up those steps. It was one of the scariest, frightening, exhiliating, and fantastic experiences of my life and the view was pretty amazing. Later that day, we found out the tower was built with not only the staircase of terror, but also an elevator. I guess the owner wasn't a fan of the staircase either.
Throughout the weekend, the word WOW just kept popping into my head. As I look back over every event, every tour, every conversation, I am truely in awe of my Creator. Not only of the beauty of Green Lake, but also in the beauty of the people around us and the beauty of His love for us. Green Lake may not be the Bahamas or Hawaii, but it's a family tradition I'm thankful God urged us to be a part of.
Verse of the day:
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing Spirit." Psalm 51:12
No comments:
Post a Comment