Thankful Sunday

Since I have been having a hard time blogging lately, I thought maybe it would help me if I had some sort of regular feature. My friend, Mel, started a 'Feed Me Fridays' entry that I've really enjoyed, so I'm going to start my own 'Thankful Sundays' post.

Before M was born, the other half and I discussed the topic of religion and how we wanted to raise our children. We are both well-lapsed Catholics, and neither of us felt the call to raise our kids in the church. (much to my parents' dismay) I have always felt more of a spiritual call than he has, however, so it was important for me to have a plan; some sort of regular activity that our family engaged in that connected us to a higher plain. We decided that on Sundays we would do some activity together that brought us out into nature so that we would have the opportunity to not only witness such beauty firsthand, but so that perhaps we'd have the impetus for natural questions about things like 'where did this tree come from,' etc. When speaking with other mothers-to-be I'd say that we wanted nature to be our church. Well, it would seem that plan was made from good intentions, but never quite got off the ground in the way we had discussed. It's not that we didn't go out in nature on Sundays, it was just that it wasn't a regular outing. And with M's language deficits, we certainly have not heard any introspective questions from him. (Though I feel certain they must exist given the calm he so often exhibits on a nice walk in the woods)

While we were on our getaway last weekend, we spent three hours of our Sunday walking through Van Damme state park. We walked for several miles slowly, deliberately; pausing to skip rocks, to admire the unfurling of a fern leaf, or to tell stories about the 'troll' that must be living under the bridge. It was a typical north coast day, gray and quiet; the cloud cover making it necessary for a jacket while simultaneously enveloping us in a sort of warmth that almost makes you feel like you are living inside of terrarium. It was lovely, and it put all of us in a great mood, reminding us how important it is to take time to be together like this without the interruptions of television, phone calls or a schedule.

So this Sunday I am thankful for last Sunday. I am thankful that B lasted as long as he did on the walk (with many a bribe, but he made it!) and that M's body provided him with enough muscle and strength to walk like a champ with little assistance from us. I am thankful that we were able to extend our trip so that we could explore the beautiful north coast a little longer. And I am thankful that we had such a nice time that we are already talking about going back! What are you thankful for this Sunday?