Footprints

6 days on Sabbatical- The struggle is real

I have been on Sabbatical for six days now.  And I struggled to get the message. My first day off was a Saturday so it was fairly normal.  Somehow I woke up thinking it would feel different.  You know the kind of feeling when you’re a kid and you turn 10? You wake up on the morning of your milestone birthday and expect to ‘feel’ a year older. Well, it was a big buildup and turned out to be just a normal Saturday.  I had this strange urge to check my work emails, look at my sales numbers, or send one last message to my key accounts to make sure they were okay before I left the country.  And then I just ran out of time because we headed out for family vacation! We left for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and had a great time.  Strangely, my phone is the only one in the family that would not work on my international service. At first I was annoyed.  What if an extreme situation occurred and someone could not get a hold of me? Turns out, life went on and if something went wrong, either I didn’t need to know or there was someone else better suited to resolve it.  Since there was nothing else to do except enjoy Mexico with my family, that is what I did!  We always travel in a big herd, complete with all the in-laws and extended family.  This was a special vacation of our family.  My Father in law was just diagnosed with prostate cancer and has been battling complications from diabetes.  All of his medical challenges are manageable.  Even so, life is precious and making memories is what it is all about.  Also, in a few weeks my first born leaves for college.  I’m still in denial.  But I am thankful for this time with family and taking adventures to make memories.

Did I mention how much I love the beach?  The sand is tan and the the water is blue/green.  I think that everyone has a special place they love to be in.  For some it is the mountains.  For me it has always been the ocean.  I feel very close to God when I am near the ocean.  I’ve always lived near the ocean.  As I sat beachside every morning appreciating God’s creation, I could not help but thank Him for the blessings in my life.  The world is a beautiful place when you choose to focus on the good in it.  After a long walk on the beach, I turned around to view my progress and immediately thought of one of my favorite poems (pic below).  He carries us even when we don’t think we need it.

There is also a pic of my kids.  They have not yet learned to appreciate the outdoors as much as I do.  They were taking selfies in the hotel room.