Hockey, Hooky and The Sound of Peppermint

We are nearing the end of an exceptionally busy season of life.  If you combine Kristie’s pregnancy and bed-rest last summer, newborn colicky baby, church construction projects and new campuses, a Christmas season and an Easter one… we’ve been tapped out for about 8 months now.  We are thrilled to have gone through all of those things because the end result is totally worth it.  But it was a busy season none-the-less.

So these days, I’m enjoying the small moments when I’m able to unwind a bit…

First was last Wednesday night I received some tickets to the Minnesota Wild game.  Charlie (my 6 year old) and I made an evening of it with a pre game trip to Cosetta’s, for a giant bowl of Mastociolli with two meatballs.  Charlie is not a fan of loud noises and the big horn/light/smoke combo at the Wild Games freaks him out a bit.  But it was good spending one on one time with my son.  We loved the game and the mini donuts.

Second was last weekend.  We made arrangements to lead worship at our Faribault campus last Sunday morning and therefore had Saturday free.  And at approximately 4pm when I was waking up from a nap and preparing to take Charlie to the mall where the Kerr gals had spent the afternoon shopping I thought to myself… wow, it’s been a while since I had a Saturday at home doing family stuff all day.  It was nice.

Finally today....  I’m getting some custom in ear audio monitors and today I had to make the trip to the Mall of America to get my ‘Ear Impressions’ done.  This is when they inject a foamy Gel-like substance in your ear and get a mold of your ear… hence the custom ear monitors.  First of all the injecting the goop into your ear feels quite odd, but my moment of solitude came when I had to sit there (at a kiosk in the hallway at the Mall of America) for five minutes while the gel hardened.  And since my ears were literally filled to overflowing with blue goop, I couldn’t hear a thing.  It was forced silence for five minutes.  I found myself wishing for an additional five.  It’s like a spa treatment for the over-done…  “I’ll have ear goop silence for half an hour please”. 

After my ears had been molded I wandered around the mall for a few minutes and had lunch at a place nearby and smiled as I thought, “Here I am on a Tuesday afternoon, wandering around the mall, and nobody knows where I am.”  It was like I was playing hooky from work and nobody knew about it.   Of course blogging about it may not be the best way to maintain secrecy.

I’m realizing that I came through this busy season fairly well.  I only had a couple near breakdowns.  But I also recognize that during a busy season of life, moments when I stop and allow God to speak occur less often.  Creativity and passion slowly get replaced with routine and obligation.  I’m reminded of how much we all need times to relax and rejuvenate.

So if that’s you today, turn of the computer, go get a tube of toothpaste end empty it in to your ears and just enjoy to silence.  Enjoy the sound of peppermint.

Comments

[Brenda]

I used to love to go to the dentist just because I could lay back and close my eyes for a few minutes while my mouth went numb. I think I like the ear goop method of relaxation better now!