When a Change of Scenery is Just What You Need

Last year, we started planning a family vacation to Homer, Alaska, to celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary. Randy spent the latter half of his childhood there, and, while we visited soon after we were married, we’ve not been back since.

We were excited about returning to one of the most beautiful places on earth, this time with our girls. Even so, I was more than a little anxious after he bought our plane tickets in February. What if my parents’ health plummeted right before we left? Or worse, what if one of them died while we were gone?

I know we’re not supposed to engage in what-ifs, but this was a very real possibility at the time.

And yet, life had to go on. We couldn’t base all our decisions for the future on what might or might not happen with my parents. So we went ahead with our plans.

As it turns out, the timing couldn’t have been better. By the time my mom died in April, my dad died in late May and we had his funeral in mid-June, we were in desperate need of a break and a change of scenery.

I have many thoughts and takeaways from the last several months working their way through my mind. I haven’t written any of them yet, but I will. I’m looking forward to it, actually, but other things have taken priority since we returned from our trip.

We put my parents’ house up for sale. Molly got braces on her teeth (on her fifth trip to a dental office in the space of two weeks). Lilly applied to the college she hopes to attend.

You get the idea.

When Randy and I visited Homer in 1995, I made a scrapbook of our trip using photographs, brochures and even a travel article I wrote for the newspaper I was working for at the time.

I haven’t made a scrapbook in years. But when I was looking through all the electronic images we have from our trip in July, it suddenly became very important to me to create a memento from this vacation that we can hold in our hands, flip through and linger over. (The fact that 4×6 prints were on sale for 10 cents a piece at Walgreens that week only furthered my resolve.)

We had a wonderful time in Alaska. We easily could have spent a month there, instead of just one week. And now, as I look at the pictures, the things we did and the memories we made seem even better in retrospect.

Our girls saw the ocean for the first time. At one beach, they had fun swimming with the daughters of Randy’s high school friends Steve and Stacey (while all of us parents were content to let the icy water wash the sand out from under our feet again and again). At another beach, I took a miles-long, deeply encouraging walk with my dear college friend Kathy.

We stayed in a vacation rental near Homer for the first several days, then at Kathy’s family’s cabin in Halibut Cove, a private community across the bay that is only accessible by boat. She says this is her favorite place and I totally understand why—it’s so peaceful and beautiful that I didn’t want to leave it either.

I could go on with the travel log, but when it comes to Alaska, I have a feeling that showing is better than telling. If nothing else, perhaps these pictures will remind you of the glory of God’s creation. In the Land of the Midnight Sun, it’s nothing short of spectacular.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Purposeful Faith, #TellHisStory, Let’s Have Coffee,  Faith ‘n Friends and Grace & Truth.