Play and Work

It's summer and we've been making the most of it.  We recently took a trip to Dutch Wonderland with my mom, sister, and niece, which the girls really enjoyed.  (I think I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't ruined my toddler's day by taking her on the kiddie roller coaster!  She was pretty cranky after that!)  This was our first trip to an amusement park, and the big girls would've stayed there for three days!  So much to do and see, and so little time!

T and Meara!

Mom, Meara and Baby A

Auntie Kel, Caeley and T

I hope this isn't the closest I get to being a farmer!

We just returned home from our yearly trip to North Carolina.  For Ken especially, it was a much needed vacation.  The best part was seeing him relaxing and enjoying his ladies!

I might have found the biggest daddy's girl yet!

Ailin loved the beach!

Ready to Boogie.

My favorite picture of the whole trip.

Eating ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery

Working in the sand.

My Mears.  My precious middle girl.

I have been struck this summer with a couple thoughts.  First, how fortunate we are that we truly can enjoy and live out the maxim: "To everything there is a season."  Every summer, we are able to take a break from the routine and the "work" and make time for play and relaxation.

But I've also been struck by another thought, which I'm sure many saints or popes or other gifted writers have been able to articulate better than I will here, so bear with me.  :-)   As we were getting ready to leave my in-laws' house in North Carolina yesterday, and I was sweeping the floor, I was struck by how much I missed cleaning.  I missed the work of my every day life.  I missed Meara running from the chicken coop with a handful of eggs.  I missed feeding the chickens and letting them play in the yard.  I missed weeding.  I missed cutting the flowers in our yard for vases.  I missed cooking, cleaning, and maybe I missed laundry, but my thoughts didn't get quite that far.  :-)   

I realized that there was a life I had left behind that was infinitely more precious and valuable to me than any vacation could ever be.  That doesn't mean that the vacation wasn't absolutely wonderful for our family, and so much appreciated.  But I think it means that I am living the life I am meant to live.  Somewhere along the lines, the joy inherent in my "times for work" and "times for play" seems to have become one and the same joy.   I don't know if it makes me a loser, but I realized that in the past couple years, I've never felt desperate for a vacation.  I've never felt the need to flee from my duties or my life at home.  (Side bar:  Of course, there's always the need for small breaks and respites, like the days when Tee Tee comes and I get to go grocery shopping by myself, or when Ken takes the girls for a couple hours on Saturday while I garden and plan for our school week!)

But the older I get, the more I feel that longing to return when I am not in my 'nest.'  I don't think it's because I'm a workaholic or such a homebody that I can't have fun on vacation.  But the part of me that feels most fulfilled, feels that way in my home.  I also can't deny that it made me truly happy to hear the girls also express how much they missed home and the chickens.  They couldn't wait to see if the tomatoes were ready or how big the cucumbers had grown.  Life as a mother means you don't often get to hear "thank you," but it was enough for me to know that there's a part of them that loves this life too.

"Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another....Work honors the Creator's gifts and the talents received from him...Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ."  (CCC #2427)

I'm realizing that my goal should always be to cultivate so much joy, love, and beauty in our everyday life, in our times of work and our times of play, that we never feel the desperate need to escape.  And when we are lucky enough to get those precious moments away, I hope that all of us will miss this little homestead.  I'm beginning to see the truth that there is value, dignity, and the true Spirit of Christ to be found in the work AND the life of the home.  

Silly times in bed with the iPhone!

I wish Caeley had made it in this one!

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