A Saturday afternoon date

Photo from Pixabay

A couple of weeks ago,  Mr. T and I had had what felt like a crazy week.  Have I mentioned that I struggle with taking time away from my own home and responsibilities to attend to other, nearly as important things out of the home?  I'm sure that I have!  That week had been a killer of a week with two appointments for my dad, a dental appointment for myself, and much, much more.  As the weekend neared, both Mr. T and I were hoping to carve out a little time for ourselves on the Saturday.  I pray regularly that we'll both have time to relax.  He has a demanding job and sometimes a lengthy commute.  I have a full plate of home, eldercare and ministry responsibilities.  God always provides what we need in the way of relaxation, one way or another, in His  perfect timing.  He knows what we need and when we need it.

But Saturday we both had plenty of other things to do.  We pondered going out for breakfast, but  finally decided that we would both work as hard as we possibly could in the morning and then go somewhere for a picnic lunch.  I had in mind a park I had read about, but we never did find it.  But very interestingly, through an unexpected series of events, we did stumble upon another park which had everything I hoped for: a quiet spot with a picnic table (under a roof since it looked like rain); leafy trees; and a lakeshore with the soothing sound of lapping water.  (It was a much nicer and shadier spot than the one  at the top of the post, but I failed to take a picture.)  We spent a quiet half hour there eating a late lunch and talking.

Lovely lakeside spot

So relaxing

These pretty flowers were growing at the water's edge

We then made a quick stop at a fabric store for some fabric my daughter told me about.  It matches perfectly with fabric I already have for a handmade Christmas gift.

I had kept our picnic lunch on the light side in case we wanted to stop for ice cream on the way home.  We took a series of interesting back roads, most of them dirt, and eventually did end up at a seasonal ice cream place.

Photo from Pixabay

Sitting in Adirondack chairs, we savored every bite of our ice cream and then headed for home and more responsibilities awaiting.  We had been gone less than three hours, but felt so refreshed.  So thankful to the Lord for this little respite!