Smokey Mountains Majesty

{ this is a totally unrelated picture of some trees in my parents' neighborhood..  It was just too pretty not to post }

Every Tuesday my Glafenhein side of the family has a family dinner.  Absolutely love it.  Getting to be around family and eat meals with them is one of the best parts about being back in K-town!  Even better, Wil's GooGoo (grandma) and Papa Bill (granddad) get to drive in from Sevierville for dinner every other Tuesday.  It is such a blessing.

So, yesterday was like every other Tuesday night.  After hours of yummy food, good talks and a good while of lounging on the couch to work off all the food we just ate, people started trickling out.  We started to head out and I could not for the life of me find my phone.  Which is pretty weird because I hardly ever lose anything and am especially good at keeping track of what Wil looses.  So after I look around for a while the whole family starts getting into the search.  Couch cushions were lifted, pots and plates were shifted and steps were traced.  I literally did not know where else to look.  In desperation I would lift up perfectly flat plates off the counter and look under them.   After about 20 minutes of the whole house looking for my phone, someone had a thought that maybe Wil's grandparents took it with them thinking that it was theirs.  (They had left about 45 minutes earlier)  We call them up, and sure enough the accident had been made.  (On a really great side note, Wil's grandmother DOES have an I-Phone and is very tech-savvy in using it, so it was a very easy and honest mistake for her to make- no hard feelings at all)  However, it did mean that my phone was in Seviervill and I was in Knoxville.

Basically, that was a dramatic tale of why I was without my phone for the day.  And ya'll, being completely honest.  I.  Loved.  It.

Now don't get me wrong; I love my phone and am so thankful for the technology that allows me to be connected to the world in an instant and lets me keep in touch with family and friends etc.  But man oh man was it a relaxing and freeing to have no phone for a little bit.

I took a walk and talked with God- instead of my usual reading of emails or texting friends.  I read the Bible without being distracted. I organized my room a little bit.  I made breakfast and enjoyed the view while I ate.  I sang acapella to myself and got a really good laugh out of it.  I had no idea what time it was for a while.  I wasn't worried about missing a call or a text because there was nothing I could do about it.  Man oh man it was freeing.

So, as crazy as it sounds, I am so thankful that GooGoo and Papa Bill accidentally took my phone last night.  God used that time- however short it was- to just bring me back to reality for a little bit and help me breathe a little better.

And while the 2 hour drive today was not exactly ideal, the sky was crystal clear and the landscape was Majestic.  There were a couple of times that I actually said "WOW" to myself in the car and at one point I busted out "OH BEAUTIFUL FOR SPACIOUS SKIES, FOR AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN! FOR PURPLE MOUNTAINS MAJESTY, ABOVE THE FRUITED PLAINS!!"

I literally couldn't help myself.

There was a little weight lifted off my shoulders today that was replaced with a gentle embrace by my Father.  God is so sweet and knew exactly what I needed.

I am so thankful.