Sweet retreat

God gave me a very great gift this weekend: I joined the ladies at my church in a trip to Lancaster, PA to see the Sight and Sound Theatre production of Noah.

Mac and Corrie got to spend a few days with Grandpa and Grandma Johns in Baltimore while me and Davey traveled up together.


I wasn't sure how it was all going to shake out with Davey along, but I decided to just go with the flow and enjoy this great gift (and hope that whoever God chose for us to share a room with would be okay with an infant in the room!)

What a very, very sweet surprise the whole weekend was!

Being with all of these ladies is such a gift for me. They love so genuinely and from their hearts. I am so different from them all. I just enjoy being with them and observing and listening to them...it is so refreshing and funny.

For example, I packed a few outfits for me and Davey, and we pretty much wore the same thing the whole time. While unloading our luggage, I overheard one of my friends say, "Well, of course you have to pack at least three outfits for each day because you just don't know what kind of mood you will be in!"

The entire plan for the day on Monday was shopping...for knick knacks and purses and accessories...not exactly my dream activities! But the fact that I could care less about the shopping made me available to drive others around and also spend time listening and visiting with friends going through hard times.

Instead of being a hindrance, Davey was such a blessing to us all. Both of the ladies that God put me and Davey in a room with are dealing with painful/difficult life circumstances, and God made Davey into His special little source of comfort to them. One of these ladies just lost her husband of 47 years, and Davey seemed to love her immediately. She held him often, sang to him, laughed with him and prayed for him. He loved it all. He seemed to save his best and biggest smiles for her. Here she is, singing to him:

There was no shortage of ladies who offered to hold him for me during our Bible study and meal times:

And a special added bonus was that I was able to keep Davey quiet enough to sit through the whole 2+ hour play! I was pretty sure I would have to leave at some point, but it seemed like he timed his crying for the loud singing parts, so no one could really hear him. At the end I found a special surprise all over my shirt and pants: a leaky diaper! It was a fun car-ride home in pee-covered clothes. Right about then I realized there IS an advantage in packing three outfits for each day!