A Time For Rest

Psalm 23:1-3 "The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,  he refreshes my soul......"

This morning, way early than any sane human being should be up and about, too early to figure out how to even push the button on my Keurig, my sweetheart and I headed off to Arizona for a well deserved vacation.  Most of my life I had heard this scripture (the entire 23 psalm) referred to as the funeral psalm.  But as I've grown in my study of the gospel, I came  to realize that the Lord does want me to rest at times.  Rest my body, rest my mind, rest my soul.  He commands me to stop and do nothing for a while.  So, being the obedient daughter that I am, (LOL) will definately take Him up on that commandment.

One of the things on my lifelong list of places to see before I head to heaven was to go to the Grand Canyon.  So, at the ridiculous hour of 4 am, off we headed.  My blog will take a different turn this week as I keep you informed of my adventures in green pastures.  Well, that would be a stretch in Arizona because IT"S ALL BROWN!!!!  The buildings are brown, the ground is brown, the mountains are brown, even the McDonalds is brown.  It was my first lesson in color coordination.  Basically, anything I brought to wear will not clash with my surroundings!

Not thinking about the totally crazy travel holiday weekend, we were shocked to find the parking garages all full.  Crisis number one!  Way out on the highway to a offsite parking place, raining, cold, fun, fun, fun.  Did I mention that I didn't have my coffee yet????  Then through the absolutely lovely security check point where I had to take off everything but my underwear.  No just kidding.  No sense causing people to go blind that early in the morning.  It was a little tedious but we made it through without setting off any bells and whistles.  Then it was straight to the coffee shop for my peppermint mocha. yum yum.  What?  They were boarding.  No time to drink the coffee. Oh for crying out loud.  You people obviously do not know who you are dealing with.   Sigh.  So onto the plane where at least something went right.  I paid extra so that sweetheart could have the exit row seat because he is very tall and is usually scrunched into the middle seat because mama isn't happy unless she can see out the window.  This time, I gave him the window seat so he could stretch his legs and I even offered him my cookie (apparently they gave up on the nuts and now give fig newtons....strange but cool by me)  Then I promptly fell asleep.  Which is what I had wanted all along, except an iv infusion of coffee would have been nice while I slept.

Off the plane in Phoenix and down the road to Scottsdale we went.  An absolutely yummy restaurant called the Good Egg where I had this insanely yummy breakfast skilled with chorizo, cheese, poached eggs, potatoes, smoked jalepenos, and avacado.  (picture below!!)  Then a trip to the mall because oh by the way the handle on my suitcase broke and I just happened to have a 15% off macy's coupon in my purse.  Well for goodness sakes it WAS black friday.  So got a great new suitcase with four wheels instead of two and 60 percent off with an additional 15 percent off.  Of course it ate up two hours what with parking, fighting our way through the mall, standing in line for 45 minutes while women haggled over why the coupon didn't work on the item they wanted to buy, and then back out to the car where we watched two women nearly come to blows fighting over our parking space.  We then drove back over the bridge and walked around scottsdale where we found amazing little shops (got some CUTE earrings) and lots of beautiful artwork.

My sweetheart thought we were staying at the military base which is our normal place to stay when we travel because you can get a room for 35 dollars at most any base in the country when you are retired.  However, I had lined up an absolutely awesome bed and breakfast on the side of a mountain just outside of flagstaff.  And because I am a totally romantic sap, I had them put roses, chocolates, and an excellent bottle of Chardonnay in the room.  He was so surprised.  It is a beautiful lodge.  I will put some pictures of it tomorrow.  It was dusk when we got here and the lighting for the pictures would have been off.  But suffice it to say that there are towering trees, lots of snow, elk in the back yard, a woodburning stove downstairs, and a pack of sled dogs in the yard!!!!  OK the last part was a little off but since I am a total dog lover, I was totally cool with it.  We even get to help feed the dogs!!  (I know...some of you are going yuck!!!!  But I think it is way cool) 

Anyway, romantic room, great dinner at a historic hotel in town where I had this amazing dish of hominy and green chile pork stew, walk around the snow covered yard looking up at a gazillion stars.  Head up to the room which is appropriately named the Ranch Romance room.  And then.......my sweetheart fell right to sleep.  LOLOL   Which is where I will be in a few minutes.  That's how old people do vacations!!!  We fly hundreds of miles to find a quiet place to sleep.  Off to the grand canyon tomorrow. 

I am blessed.  The Lord is so good to me.  Days like this are my green pastures and my still waters.  I am looking forward to seeing the beauty of the land.  Tonight as I gazed up at the heavens, I was in awe of His power and majesty.  To think that He created the heavens and the earth just for us is staggering to me sometimes.  I am looking forward to refreshing my soul and quieting my heart.