The ramblings of a woman,
wife, & mother, who loves:
Jesus / my man / the three,
learning about parenting /
mamahood / childbirth,
cooking foods healthy /
international / yummy,
pretending to garden /
write / design,
attempting to run /
exercise / lift weights,
enjoying traveling /
camping / adventures,
finding ways to love /
serve / sacrifice for others.

It is not to say she does these things
with style or grace, or even skill.

Reflections on Our First Big Adventure

August 31, 2014 - 10:24 AM

We made it. Late on a Saturday night, we made it home. Tears of joy upon seeing our home. Tears of joy from the surprise sweet signs of "Welcome Home!" and food for dinner and breakfast in our fridge brought by dear friends. Lots of tears.

I never thought we'd see this home again. I mentally prepared to either die or end up settling down in a new home along our journey. But we returned. Almost 11 months to the day I got the bright idea to leave town and my husband said, "Yes." After almost 1.5 years of insanity, I had been pulled out of the seemingly never-ending funnel.  

gg

Our time in CA was far from perfect, there were ridiculous things that happened I can't even write about, but thanks to it all I could talk to God again. I know that may sound weird to some but when I think about where my life was headed before Jesus entered my life and how it was forever changed by the love of God... goodness, I am forever, deeply thankful for His never stopping love while I was spinning out of control.

Our time in CA helped me to see clearly through the bad advice I had been given, both past and present, and it also helped me see all the bad advice I had given over the years. Since our CA return, I have been on a quest to individually apologize to dear, old friends that I know I hurt, judged, mislead, etc, because I was/am an idiot, ignorant, and misguided. It has been a painful process and I am so thankful for the grace and forgiveness they have shown me so far. 

I am three years into doing this and I still need to come face to face with a few more people. I am reminded of the Seinfeld when a guy is doing his 12 step AA program and didn't apologize to George, though George thought he was owed an apology. If I owe you an apology and I don't do it, please tell me. I take full responsibility. I am certain I hurt more people than I realize. I would love to make things right.

Our time in CA was genuinely a time for our family to heal. Kids can tell when their parents are going through struggles and it impacts them emotionally, too. Because we spend so much time together, our kids are scarily perceptive of my emotions specifically. They usually join forces and take great pains to ease my load and encourage me. It is truly humbling yet a blessing to have your children minister to your soul. Thanks to our bonding time out west and back, we were once again closer in our relationships to one another, especially for Josh and the kids spending extended time together. And Josh and I were able to were able to think and talk through things as "just us." We were now ready to begin the process of finding a place for our family to fit in, helping our children find kids to grow with, helping us meet new people, and figuring out how we can be a part of our community.

Our time in CA left me my heaviest I've ever been. That was unfortunate. It wouldn't be until after Thanksgiving that I finally started back at the gym doing fitness classes, attempting to run, and getting my 30 Day Shred on. Carving out time to get back in shape was restorative thanks to the beauty of the positive influence of exercise induced endorphins, as well as, that I was able to listen to my favorite podcast, where, it seemed at the time, each one was catered to build upon things I had been learning throughout the previous months.

We had made it. We were all prepared to tackle the new challenges life would throw at us with renewed hearts and minds. We were all excited to see where our next big adventure would take us. We were not dead, yet. 

ONTO THE NEXT ADVENTURE...

Response to Reflections on Our First Big Adventure

Leave a Comment

Required, but not displayed.

HOME

Welcome! I am glad you're here! If you are new and would like to get caught up on what's going on, check out these quick links to get you started:

About Me and This Blog...

Begin Our Adventures of Fall/Winter 2012 to CA, MN, CO
   Ladies Trip to Napa Valley
   My Parents Rode in a Plane!

Begin Our Adventures of Summer 2012 to MN and CO
   Vacation to the North Shore and Cabin
   Boulder for the Summer
   Life in Boulder

Begin Our Adventures of Winter/Spring 2012 to UT
   The Drive to CO/UT Begins
   Vacation in Moab
   Living in Moab / Denver

Begin Our Adventures of Fall/Winter 2011 to CA
   The Drive to CA Begins
   Living in the SF
   Living in the Suburbs
   Coming Home to IC

Begin Our Adventures of Summer 2010 to Eastern Europe
   Life at Czech English Camp
   Travels in Germany & Austria
   Travels in Czech & Poland

FOLKS

Fam Q
LM - Czech Guru
RM - CSS Guru
JLProject 
Mrs. Windham
Joe Pyle Wedding Photographer
RedThreadLove

RSS FEED

RSS Feed

www.flickr.com



Cramer Family 5