finding God in the northwoods.
it's that time of year. labor day weekend. the time when all minnesotans head to one of three places:
- the state fair (pass, it is way too full of sweaty bodies for me).
- one of our 10,000 lakes.
- northern wisconsin.
Mister Man and i are choosing option #3 this year. and actually, will be choosing that every year. we've been going to our family friend's cabin in northern wisconsin for the last few years with his family, and it's just absolutely the best. relaxing and fun and down home and wonderful. there is something about playing swedish golf with a beer in your hand in the woods that just feels so right, you know? beergaritas would work just fine too...
probably staring down Mister Man for scoring against me. not competitive at all...
this sounds a little silly, but i get all sorts of contemplative when i go to the cabin. i'm surrounded by people i love and who love me. i feel the need to journal, to plan, to sit on the dock by myself to meditate on God's plan for me and my life. after living in the city for so long, there is a real sense of calm and connection that comes over me when i get to the woods. like i finally have the space to stretch out and the quiet to really think.
but then of course i fill the space and the quiet with the people there, and constantly finding someone to talk to. you see, i am a talker. the people that know me in real life know this all too well, and it can be a problem. i never shut up. it's one of the things i struggle with the most...feeling comfortable enough to just be still and quiet, to not feel the need to fill the space with my noise and my jokes.
i used to be very comfortable with silence. in college, we had perpetual adoration on campus, and i signed up for a weekly hour in which i was responsible for being there to sit with the Body of Christ and just BE. that's it. just be. it was an hour in which i could sit and think of nothing, read spiritual books (i got to know thich nhat hanh and gandhi really well in there), or pray. it's where i learned to read the bible, at the age of 20. it was an hour dedicated to my spiritual life and nothing else until the next adorer got there.
it's on my list to start this up again, but until that happens, i think a good start would be to make time to be quiet on my own too. and what better place than the cabin, where He feels present all the time anyway? the first step is reminding myself that people are going to be okay if i am quiet for a while. they don't need to hear my voice as much as i might like to think they do. (WHAT? that's crazy talk, but okay.)
so here's to making time for contemplation, and to finding God in the northwoods this weekend.
(and to bonfires and beer and swedish golf thrown in there too.)
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photo credit goes to danny smylie.