When You Still Need Healing

Some things in life just happen then there's the kind of days we spend hours planning for. We want every detail lived out because dreams have a way of carrying us through hard days.Our trip to New England has been just this. And as we've been walking through these days there was one day we both were looking forward to more than any other. It was the day we planned to drive with the top down in our rented convertible Mustang (because even that was part of the dream) as we drove to Bailey's Island along the beautiful coast of Maine.Yet neither of expected the emotions which overtook us there.As we sat overlooking the giant granite steps leading down into the ocean, our legs dangled over the edge and we bowed our heads as we thanked God for getting us here.Because this place truly represented so much for the two of us. Not only does it hold years of sweet memories- but most importantly, it was the place Joe fought to get to....through all of the pain and sleepless nights, through his hard months of treatments...this place represented he'd truly made it through Cancer. So it wasn't surprising when tears began streaming down our cheeks as we praised God for bringing us this far.You see, some things in life take more out of us than we ever realize. And as we sat on the edge looking over this cliff both of us breathed in the salty air and breathed out a deep sigh of relief.Joe just that morning had described to me the heaviness he'd been feeling trying to readjust to parts of his body not working and him not feeling like himself. Because sometimes we collect things in the fire which don't translate in the everyday lives we return to.We went back to this place because when life feels like it's been all too much, sitting by the ocean is where I go. For most of my life this has been the place I long to come to. It's where I grew up and it's waves always bring back a steady rhythm into my soul. I shared this exact spot with Joe the first time he ever visited Maine and he instantly fell in love with it too. So now whenever we visit we come here. Our kids have stacked up years of memories here and it's a somewhat sacred place for us.It's where we let go of my parents and said our last good byes and it holds so many joy-filled memories for us too.I truly believe this is why water is so significant to me. Whether it's the beating of raindrops outside, the soothing waves of the ocean, a rolling stream or even the calmness of a lake...I love it all because somewhere beside water I find a calmness that settles my soul.And even when sadness invades my life the warmth of a shower has a way of soothing any unrest within...there's really nothing else like it for me.So, it was no surprise the kind of healing this day held for us.The truth is we walked away with the same limp and pains but sometimes it's finding healing from the inside out which changes us the most. And as we walked away this day our hearts were a little lighter as some of the hard which we've just come through fell into the ocean with the waves which were crashing up against the rocks underneath us.And this is truly what we came here for...Because sometimes you need to leave some of your pain behind to get to more of the healing.And although both of us came with different wounds there isn't a better place we'd rather go to do this kind of healing.And as our time away is slowly winding down I'm praying we return home different...perhaps a little more rested and a tad bit healed too.Because we really need it.I'll admit life's been taking all we have and just like I told one of our son's yesterday about an injury he's healing from-'healing is just as important as getting the wound initially treated.'Because healing happens most when we intentionally set aside the time to be restored....time to remember and time to rest.And honestly I think this is what happens when we step away from all that's piling up at home.... We remember where our stories first began...🖤