Saturday afternoons growing up we’d pack our roller skates and kites into the back of my dad’s truck and pray for the wind to blow over our tightly packed suburban landscape.
With no fields to fly kites or safe roads to skate on he’d drive us to the local public elementary school to get out and play. During the week my sister and I were sequestered at our (much more spacious) small Christian school several miles away. So a weekend excursion to the nearby school was a treat for us.
We never came there as students, just as visitors to an empty school on weekends. The asphalt covered schoolyard was a foreign land to us.
We’d climb the jungle gym that had held hundreds of kids yesterday, but now stood vacant just for us.
Hanging upside down. Jumping into the sand.
Roller skates on now, in true 80s fashion: me in braids and bangs and my little sister with her hair free.
I’ll race you! [knowing I'd beat her]
Wait for me…
And we were gone. My parents stood back near the gate and talked to each other without little ears close by. We’d rush to the far end of the concrete yard, over the cracks that had been molded by time and California heat. We’d skate around the hopscotch numbers and then try to jump the boxes with heavy feet.
If it was windy, we’d sit with our skates splayed out spinning in front of us and unravel the string of our kites. My dad would stand as anchor and we’d skate in the other direction letting the string out. On a good day, the kite would catch the air. And on a bad day, even the worst of afternoons, we’d have at least gotten our energy out and played out the day in a new place.
The school yard was just an asphalt square with a few trees in the corner and a lonely jungle gym in an oval of dirty sand. But it was enough of a departure from our normal November week at school that it would send us laughing and rushing to the far end of the yard.
With the change of scenery came a change of heart.
I’ve been depleted lately and my mind feels muddy. I’m giving out and writing (out) and nothing seems to be coming back in. Like when the tide rushes out and exposes the crabs and shells on the shore. But a tide always returns. I wish my tide would return.
I think I might just need a change of landscape. Writing on my bedroom floor next to my bed with Strawberry Shortcake playing in the background just isn’t cutting it anymore. So tonight, I’m going to do things differently.
I’m going to see if my energy and my inspiration might just change by simply changing my surroundings. So I’ll retreat to the room in my house that calms me rather than drains me and see what happens.
You: take a walk today and change your route. Or pack your kids and some lunches into the minivan and drive to the beach and play in the sand. Bring out the umbrellas for a puddle walk. Go to a museum on your lunch break. Stop by the Farmers Market on your way home and let your kids pick out the vegetables for dinner.
Change your scenery.
If you can’t change your physical scenery, change the scenery of your life. Turn off the TV and put away your phone. Cook something new for dinner tonight or buy a used cookbook online. Pull an old book off the shelf to reread or call an old friend you haven’t talked to in two years because you are “just too busy.” Read a new book to your son or let your daughter wear your high heels around the upstairs. Watch a documentary after the kids go to bed. Learn about something, but whatever you do, do something different today.
And then pay attention to what happens when you change things.
You might just find that you have the energy to lace up your roller skates and race your little sister to the edge of the playground.
What will you do different today?
Hm. I think I’m taking my husband out on a date!
I am not sure yet, but I will take you up on your offer. Sounds exciting. Just what the doctor ordered. Thanks again for the inspiration!!!! I know my day will be the best one yet!
I love this post today. I, too, am needing a change in scenery. While I wish it could be a picnic lunch on the beach, I’m thinking any little thing might help…anything to shake it up.
Hope your tide returns soon.
it already is beginning….
=)
Like so many others, I too need a change of scenery. Thanks for painting the picture of what life might be like if we dare to do something a little different.
I LOVE this challenge-I’m in! I can’t wait to see what God has in store.
God bless you for this. I have felt so useless in things that seem little. It feels like Groundhog Day at my house. I clean, I cook little meals, I rush around for my lunch, I find the binkie again, LAUNDRY, potty break, dirty diaper, wet the bed, you get the idea. Sigh. I need a change of perspective. We are headed to the art museum this afternoon for some painting. God bless you Sarah.
I have one sick child and another child and myself on the mend so we are staying home today and having a movie/snuggle day. I hope it’s as nice as I am anticipating. Sometimes the kids decide they have too much energy to sit around, sick or not. It is good to mix things up sometimes. Sometimes we get in such a rut. Thanks for the reminder. Enjoy your day.
Creating sanctuary.
Finding sanctuary.
Like Jesus.
hey sarah!! i love your highlights right now … so light and pretty! =) sorry, random comment on this post, but i had to give you that compliment!
thanks christi! you are hilarious. =)
Alright, Sarah, have you been reading my mail? For the past two days, I have been fighting off a very bad case of “mind-funk” for whatever reason. Your timing of your challenge is perfect. I’m going to grab Melody and take a walk with her around the neighborhood and talk about our dreams and desires and all the amazing things God has done over the past year.
Thank you!
Traylor
oh yay!! i love walks like that.
and no, i haven’t been reading your mail. =)
This is so interesting. I just talked to a friend on the phone about this. We feel depleted, a little drained, just kind of dull. I have been reading Screwtape Letters which talks about the natural law of undulation. I think that must be what everyone is feeling these days. Thank you for putting this into words.
what a great idea!
thanks!
I’m working on changing the scenery in my mind…getting rid of the endless drama and despairing shadows of past mistakes and regrets, and instead filling it with the beautiful, sweet, preciously breathtaking views of Truth.
Loved this post!
Blessings,
Lindsey
So very spot on. A change of scenery, change of something. But most importantly, looking to the One who NEVER CHANGES.
amen & amen!
our hearts…infinite on the inside…somehow require “space” on the outside in order to work right…
sometimes that space is very small & simple…a walk…a smile…a familiar, welcoming voice…
thank you, girl, for your heart on display!
love,
dad
Thank you for the reminder. I have 2 sick little boys today, so I will be snuggling as much as possible, which I often forget to do with them.
Love it!