A few weeks ago, I took my kids caving. Honestly, I didn't realize that we would actually be caving, I thought we were just camping inside of a cave. . . but we actually went spelunking--4.5 hours of crawling and belly crawling and climbing and falling. . . . it was AMAZING!
It absolutely started as forced family fun which the kids had been dreading for months. It ended up as a fantastic experience (not one they will ever choose to do again, but one that they can honestly say they are glad they did).
There were so many parts I loved. As a mother, I loved watching my kids laugh and use humor to get through a stressful situation. I also loved watching them help one another through physically tough spots and a couple of anxiety-filled tight spots. My mother's heart swelled up so much that I barely fit through a couple of openings (okay, it was all of the Oreos of the past year, but whatever).
As I was lying in my sleeping bag, I was struck by just how amazing and loving God is. First of all, He is amazing because he put such unexplainable beauty even under the earth for us to discover. And then loving because He gave many of us the adventurous heart of an explorer and then He created exciting adventures for us to explore. He didn't have to put caverns below the earth, but He did. That spoke so much to me because He truly does want to give us what our heart desires. He wouldn't give us the heart of an adventurer and then not give us any adventure. I love that because He knows the deep desires of my heart and the longings that I have and He will not leave me without my "adventure" ultimately (the companionship I am longing for). In that moment, in the pitch black of the cave, I felt known by God and I felt cared for on a deeper level than I had in a long time.
I think that the cave was the highlight of 2019 for me. It was missing Hays and Maggie, but other than that it was the perfect weekend!
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