A Day of "Nothing" in the Park

As we say around our office, if you're going away with your spouse, it's a vacation. If you're taking kids, it's a trip. This was a trip. There was no vacating happening because we were go, go, go. It's how Abby operates. When she's at home she is able to relax but when we go on a "vacation" she feels an urgency to keep moving. And when we stop she gets angry. Angry teens are not fun to be with. You can't tell them to "just relax." It's like a man telling his wife to "calm down" or a pregnant woman that she's "being dramatic". It doesn't work. So I did my best to have a plan for each day and, for 6 days, we found a pace that satisfied her need to move.

On the evening of day 6, when I was thinking ahead to the next day, all I saw were blank spaces. I felt a little bit of panic. Everything I researched said you have to plan things months in advance. Don't show up on Friday and expect to go rafting on Saturday. If you want to do an activity you have to plan ahead or you're out. I couldn't do it. I'm a weather watcher and the thought of planning paddle boarding 3 months away from an accurate weather forecast made me feel bonkers. So, I didn't book anything. And now we were stuck. I felt out of control like things were going to unravel quickly. I needed a plan and I couldn't wrap my head around one. It was deep, dark worry. And I realized how wrong it was.

God had shown up for us in the "big bear ask" so, riding on that wave of faith, I asked Him for help in planning our last day in Glacier. It was a big huge park, what had I been doing for the last year of planning? I've been meditating on Psalm 143:8 since January and I applied it to my blank space dilemma. "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." I asked God to show us the way we should go on Day 7 and I entrusted the day to Him. I gave the girls some options and they said, "White water rafting." We walked into Glacier Outfitters at 8:30pm just to see . . . "Any chance you have 2 spots for rafting tomorrow?" "Sure, what time do they want to go? We have spots available all day." Hmm.

So on Day 7 we dropped Abby and Lexi off and they went white water rafting. Neal and I dragged Caleb to McDonald Creek to walk on a trail. The morning was covered and I began to pray about (not worry about) the afternoon. After our hike we went over to Apgar Village to look for lunch. As I sat staring at Lake McDonald I thought, "what are the chances there are paddle boards available this afternoon?" I texted the paddle board company and they wrote back and said, "Sure. We've been super slow this week, you can rent whatever you want."

So, all that worry for nothing. We picked the girls up from their rafting trip, ate tacos from a food truck together and headed 10 minutes back to the campground to get ready for paddle boarding. I decided I wanted to do some vacating from everyone so I got my own kayak. Caleb and Neal got a tandem and the girls shared a paddle board. For 2 hours we relaxed on the beautiful water. After the first hour the girls completely disappeared and literally came out of no where 5 minutes before they were due back. They say it's in the top 3 highlights of the trip.

That night we took the walking trail around the campground and started packing up all our Costco food to head to our next destination on Day 8.