Renewal

Isaiah 40:31: "They that wait upon the Lord... shall renew their strength..."

Renewal implies resfreshment, a watering, new strength.  

I love to give.. I love to water.  But sometimes the soul knows when you need to get away to wait on God for new inspiration.

So Toney and I, after an intense month or so, needed such a refreshing. We headed in a general direction for a couple of days get away.

We drove to a little restored village that we had visited many years ago. It was a quiet Monday morning. Not many people around. The relics and displays of bygone days calmed us as we quietly and slowly strolled through the peaceful little place. We felt our spirits being stilled .

 
 
 We sat in a little restaurant and enjoyed two of our favorite foods: fried green tomatoes and coconut cream pie. Grabbed our forks and just shared the plate!!

 We drove around a lake, visited a luxury resort, where we only looked because we surely couldn't afford to stay, and ended up in a little cabin called the " Chicken Coop. We are used to tiny places and feel comfy in them!! 

We love searching out unique restaurants.... found one where Toney enjoyed wonderful catfish. Rustic, quiet, good food.. perfect setting for the evening.

 

We hiked the dam walkway for a spell... shared our thoughts, did some talking to God, enjoyed reading a spell, and slept cozily in the little cabin.

 
 

By the second morning, we were feeling relaxed and peaceful so just drove... ending up in a little Oklahoma town where we lived 40 years ago. I guess we are getting old, because we spent quite awhile reminiscing.  Life has sure gone a lot of different and unexpected directions. But we always look back on God's mercy through all those years.  We were feeling so blessed.  

Toney's old barber shop in Nowata, OK.

Our first home we bought...we were so proud of it!!

We enjoyed breakfast at a little restaurant that had been in operation for over 50 years; had lunch at a small town grill.

 We drove through the little town of Pawhuska, quickly decided we'd exchange the crowd in the Mercantile for driving to the Drummond Lodge. Some beautiful ranch land....

 

 

We captured the back roads of Oklahoma on our peaceful drive back home.  It's amazing how renewed we both were from just a few hours of shutting down and relaxing.  

I love meeting God as He waits for us to "come away" for awhile. He examples this for us in the writings of his three short years here on earth.  Yet he got so much done!!

So we're back at Pearl of Grace Ranch, our spirits and bodies renewed and ready to get back to work!!

It's easy to wait and seek God in  the beauty of nature's renewal and seeing life through the simple things!

It doesn't take a lot of money or even time to get away. You don't have to travel to an exotic island or popular tourist attraction.  It only takes a few hours to lay everything busy aside, seek out some quietness, be ready to clear the air and talk to God.  I recommend it...