Happy Friday!
As of this morning, I have finished up all the formal homework and projects for my two youngest children for this school year. It feels incredible to cross this finish line! This weekend we celebrate my 48th birthday, Mother’s Day, and on Monday, our 24th wedding anniversary! So much to be grateful for! I will not be writing in this little space again until Tuesday. I am taking a three-day weekend to slip away to Holden Beach, NC, to rest and play and unplug.
I love leaving my house tidy when I leave for a trip, and so the rest of my day will be spent cleaning and packing. I pack plenty of fiction books, my Pilates mat, my journal and Bible, some fresh flowers, Earl Grey tea, an extra blanket. Comfortable clothes, my Birkenstocks, t-shirts and lightweight hoodies. This is when I channel my inner Anne Morrow Lindbergh Gift from the Sea vibe. I plan on taking long walks, collecting shells, allowing my brain and heart to rest, sleeping late, and eating lobster rolls and shrimp burgers.
Holden Beach has been a place of healing for me since my father died in 1991. Right after his funeral, I joined my sister for a week there, and have made vacationing there a regular rhythm ever since. I have gone there as a teen, a young single, engaged, married, and have been there many times pregnant and nursing, and then with teenagers. This place has witnessed my evolution as a woman. My children have a deep love for this beach and the fun, special memories we have created there. I think we all need places on this earth that we associate with safety, joy, healing, rest. These pilgrimages are important, and God uses real places and retreats to speak to our souls in new and tender ways.
As I sign off, I wish you well this weekend. May you find some retreat, if only an hour. May you be renewed in the deep places of your heart, healed in some way, given hope. Ask for what you need. It’s not too much.
Aimee
Yet another thing we have in common! I love Holden Beach, although you discovered it long before we did! Such a wonderful peaceful place. Hope it was refreshing for you!
Happy Mother's Day! Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary!!
May your soul be refreshed this weekend.