Trip to the Keys; a List of Blessings

This was our Christmas picture this year. It was taken in early December when we went on a camping trip to the Florida Keys. That vacation was like an oasis in a drought, and so I love seeing this image; it refreshes me.  The whole trip was studded with God's kindness and blessings, and I wanted to make sure I recorded them here. Being a journaler, I've already recorded many of the blessings in my paper journal, but I thought it would be nice to remember them here too. I'm sure there were more items that I've failed to notice, but here are the big ones that we want to remember:

1. The weather was gorgeous! Sunny, highs in the 70s, beautiful evenings.
2. Lots of conversation time for Josh and me in the camper while travelling. We logged quite a number of hours on the road for this trip, thankfully not all in a day or two, but spread out over the course of a week. Josh drove the whole time, and most of the time I was able to sit in the passenger seat and talk with him. And we had lots to discuss!
3.  God revealed more areas where the gospel needs to be a reality in our parenting. By no means did the kids get along on this trip. This was NOT the oasis part, for sure! But we see it as grace that God allowed us to get away in a no-pressure environment to further reveal our kids' (and our) hearts. We were reminded that no matter where you go or what the backdrop-du-jour is, we take our flesh with us! But the good news is, we take God's grace with us too. Oh, that I'd be able to see that more!
4.  Josh's business had no problems while we were gone. He received very few texts and phone calls that week.
5.  The places we stayed! We were told by several people that it was a miracle we were able to reserve the state parks we did, only a couple of weeks before we stayed there. The state parks in the Keys book up solid 11 months in advance, so for us to find such great campsites was God's blessing.  The one you see pictured above was right on the ocean at Curry Hammock State Park. We pinched ourselves and still have a hard time believing we stayed there.


6.  Our camper ran with no problems at all the whole trip!
7.  Everyone stayed healthy the whole week.
8.  We got to see some beautiful and iconic places.






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