Some chapters close in our lives with a wonderful party of celebration... and then there are others...For almost 13 years, we lived next door to a married couple who owned a condo right by an open beach area on the east coast of Florida. Since the family we'd left (when we first became stuckinindiana) still resided in south Florida, our neighbor's condo became our favorite place to stop when driving into the state. Year after year, we offered them money for the use of their home. But, they would only accept a small gift of appreciation or our verbal thanks.
Oh the memories we had in that place.
It was a stop over with family & friends on the way to several cruise vacations. It was a place where a dear friend & I could get away to rest from the craziness of our schedules. It was a place of relaxation & peace & rest. We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, graduations & just plain being a family there. I day dreamed about owning it some day... perhaps retiring there with the LOML. Just think, the morning sun could wake me each day. And, we'd watch the sunset in the west from the back deck or played out over the ocean on the eastern sky. (That's the cool thing about sunrise & sunset... the colors are rarely contained to just one area of the sky.)
And then... a year or so ago... they SOLD THEIR CONDO to someone else. The truth was that we could not have afforded it. And, often times great things have to end to be replaced in our minds & hearts with other great things. I had to believe that everything would be fine for us -- without that place of retreat. I made a deliberate choice to believe that something better would come along. I had to come to peace with it. I love the following quote:
"Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God." ~ Author UnknownThe picture at the top of the page (which I paired with this great quote) was taken on New Smyrna Beach, Florida in mid-August of 2009. I was walking on a broken foot!
Linked with the Nesting Place community through the write31days challenge, October 2014 - post No 5.
My parents just sold their timeshare condo on the lake to someone else too. We don't ever really take vacation, but we did get a weekend there every year. We will miss it!
ReplyDeleteWe will miss our fun family get-aways too. Waking up with the ocean out your window is AWESOME. I'll miss it. But, I am SO, SO glad for the memories we made there!!
DeleteHave a blessed day!