I woke up to the sounds of a young child wiggling in his sleeping bag. A tiny crack of light was coming in through the paper blinds so I knew it was getting to be morning, but my alarm hadn't gone off, so I also knew I could keep sleeping.
The sounds progressed from wiggling noises to loud sighs and finally to a declaration, whispered into the otherwise silent roomful of sleeping bodies: "I don't like going to hotels. We just go to bed, wake up and then get out of here."
While it was a very strange thing to hear first thing in the morning, he was right. Our weekend adventures usually consist of a long drive, hours spent at a chapel where Greg or I have meetings and then, finally, arriving at the hotel in time to go through the bedtime routine, sleep, and wake up early to head off to church again.
He was right that our hotels stays aren't super vacation-y (although they can be fun and have been know to be adventuresome at times). But he was wrong about not liking it. He loves going to hotels. He doesn't mind sleeping on the very hard floor in a sleeping bag. He never complains about the drive, though it's between 3 and 6 hours one way, depending on the branch.
Yes, although it's generally all business, we all love traveling for the church. I realized today that we have been taking these weekend trips from 1-4 weekends a month every month for the past 10 years, except for at the end of pregnancy. It's been our life since Greg has been overseeing the southern part of Poland (first in the mission presidency and then (now) as district president). Evie had just turned two when we started. It's been a big part of my parenting experience and my children's life. I just love it. I have a hard time imagining living a different way. I'm not sure how long it will last, but in this church when one adventure ends, a new one always begins.
7 comments:
You're the very definitely of consecrating ones life to the Lord--and you do it with joy. Your mansion in heaven is going to be one beautiful place to see!
For some reason, I feel really humbled in reading this.
My first thought was how when we drive somewhere far, it's almost always to see family, which makes it worth it. Then I realized, that for you, going to be with other saints, and also, to some degree more americans (when you see other missionaries) it is a bit like seeing family, the church is family, and it's worth it.
Does that mean Greg is getting released soon...? The wording made me wonder.
I was thinking about you just the other day and how I hadn't seen a new post for awhile. Glad to hear you're still surviving/blogging:)
A logistics question - does the church pay for the hotel stays, or do you guys pay for it?
What a life of service! I am impressed. And I bet your kids have gotten the drive down to a science - no fighting or anything, right? ;)
I think it's wonderful that they see the sacrifice you make in the name of your faith.
Since moving here, and having to travel 4 hours for stake conference, and 8 for the temple (neither of which we do on a monthly or weekly basis!), I realize how spoiled I was growing up in Utah. And I'm glad that I can make these sacrifices for my faith, so I can understand why you love it.
You guys amaze me. Wow! I am so moved by the things you are having opportunities to participate in.
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