Weekends have taken the most dramatic change for us since living and working in Miami. For most of our 35 years together, Saturdays have been sacred, "set apart" for preparation for Sunday. Sermon preparation was the warmup to the delivery on Sunday. When the kids were young I would do everything possible to keep the house quiet for Steve. When living in SoCal, that was usually the day we spent at Disneyland or traveling and getting to know some new part of the city. In Arizona, the older kids would find activities outside the house and that would be a time that I and usually Christa and Stefani would visit my parents and brother Gordon, often sitting out in the garden. While I miss the garden time especially, not to mention my children (!), I am learning to love what most of the U.S. would call normal . . . a quiet weekend! Today, Steve and I awoke with the dogs, (our four legged alarm clock!) and spent 5 minutes making ourselves presentable so that we could take them down the elevator, through the pool area and out to the beach. The sun had just peaked up over the backside of the ocean and another beautiful sunrise greeted us. We play "fetch" with Barkley while Duchess is usually more interested in getting love and attention. That usually lasts about 15 minutes and then we head back through the pool area, washing the sand off our feet before going heading upstairs.
Today I immediately turned around and came back to the pool to swim some laps before it became the popular place to hang out for the day . . . Steve bathed the dogs in the bathtub. We then had breakfast out on the balcony; Me with my organic, non sweet yogurt, granola and fresh blueberries, Acai and pomegranate juice, and Steve with his rye toast and orange juice. Typical morning fare. We then exchanged our plates for books and he read while I journaled.
We most likely won't leave the condo until this afternoon when we will walk the dogs down the boardwalk and walking Collins street back, stopping at the Argentine bakery to partake in some empanadas. Barkley and Duchess can join us there since they have outside tables.
This is so wonderful for Steve because the stress of his position at LAM can be shaken off and washed away during these two restful, relaxing days. Something that we never really experienced in pastoral ministry. Weekends were busier than week days and even the one day a week he had off was often peppered with phone calls, emails and an occasional hospital visit.
Some changes are easier to take than others, and this is a welcome one!
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