be still.

A few weeks ago the hubs and I found a Living Social deal for a weekend getaway in Sunriver and we splurged for it. Sunriver is my love language, basically. What we didn't know when we planned said weekend, was that it was going to be the weekend of Winter/ Arctic Blast 2014. So you know how there was snow in Salem? There was SNOW in Sunriver. It. Was. Magical. Picture Narnia (as in The Chronicles of Narnia!) And then add some twinkle lights on the roof of the Sunriver Resort and a cozy, cozy room to stay in. Perfection. 

{the pathway we walked each day from our room to the main lodge}

Not only was it an incredibly refreshing, relaxing weekend away with my husband as we head into one of our busiest months of our year (and a chance to watch A LOT of Olympics), but it provided an opportunity to remember one of the things I love most about the snow. . . silence. I marvel at the way that the snow silences noise and seems to calm everything it covers. I don't know how or why God designed things so that snow would have that effect, but it seriously blesses me. The absolute quiet, the blanket of silence was such a gift each time we stepped outside on that snowy weekend. 

The Scripture that kept coming to mind and that keeps coming to mind ever since is Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God." 

That's it. Sometimes THAT is what Jesus is trying to help me remember. Be okay with the silence. Listen. You're so easily distracted by noise and chaos. But this is good. Slow down. Listen. Rest. 

One thing Michael and I had to consciously be careful about over that weekend was not talking too much about work. Now that we serve/ work side by side as High School Directors full time, so much about our life/ ministry/ marriage/ work blurs together. So often, we LOVE it. Sometimes we lay in bed at night and talk about our students, what we love about them and what's burdening us, we brainstorm ideas for retreats and teaching series and how we do RIOT on Wednesday nights, just because its fun and because we can. This is a sweet season. But sometimes, like when we're trying to get away to really focus on one another, there is such a temptation to talk about ministry and church stuff because that truly is so much of our life right now.

I found myself, in the car on the way to our getaway, having to choose and believe that taking a weekend away together was very much in line with the concept of Sabbath. . . pausing work, even work talk, in order to truly rest, believing that GOD is sufficient to take care of all things, honoring and using the work we'd done and were going to do, and blessing the way we would choose to rest in Him and invest in our marriage that weekend. It was an issue of trust, for me. "Ministry talk" could wait. That's the "(Be still) and know that I am God" part. Pause. Trust me. I'm ultimately the One leading this ministry. People are taking care of everything while you're away. Plus, I created this massive snowstorm and church is getting canceled anyway so you're not even missing anything. Just. Be still. And know. That I Am God. 

That whole weekend I had this beautiful sense of awareness and gratitude for how beautiful everything was. I have no idea the next time we'll get to be away on a romantic mini-vacation in the middle of an epically beautiful snowstorm in one of my favorite places in the world. But that's okay. This one was perfect. And it reminded me to appreciate, accept, and even invite silence, with or without snow.