A perfect one-thirty-first of July

Today was what I had in mind when I first moved with my girls to Alexandria. Of course, I’d pictured us hosting parties and having people over all the time, too, but it seems we’ve been going non-stop for months now. Between weddings and holidays and plans made, we’ve had little time to stop, explore, exist for a while. Usually it’s just the three of us on weeknights, but by the time we get home, we’re all so exhausted the agenda is generally relegated to food, movie/reading, and bed. We got a sabbatical this weekend and enjoyed it immensely.

The day was bright and clear, not the usual mid-July Virginia heat. It was around 90, but with little humidity and a light breeze, it was perfect for walking. We actually got up and ready in time for core seminars this morning. It was great because we all got ready and then looked at each other. Our color scheme matched perfectly. I had found an Ann Taylor dress Ash left in my closet, a light summery number that I fit into; Sarah wore a white top and blue skirt, the same hue of which I had in my dress; and Allis happened to borrow one of Sarah’s summer dresses that had the same blue-green theme. So not only were we up and at’em, we were cute too J And since we got to church at 9:30, we had a full morning of teaching, which was very refreshing. There was also a baptism, which is always fun and a cause of reflection and rejoicing.

After church we changed shoes, put on hats and sunglasses, and meandered over to Starbucks, as usual. Coffee and sandwiches all around. But we didn’t linger there as long as we usually do. Instead, we went over to Bartholdi Park, right next to my office actually, which is part of the National Botanical Gardens. It’s in perfect bloom right now, but unfortunately, the 130 year old fountain featured therein is out of commission, much to Allis’ chagrin. But we were there a good while; I tried to get some color on my legs, Allis took off with her camera and Sarah vegged. We all reunited eventually and talked about God’s sovereignty and how it relates to our lives, and the difficulty between knowing something in theory versus the living of it practically. We then decided to try out the parks behind the House office buildings to see if their fountains were on so we could cool off our feet. Sadly, our journey was in vain, for both fountains were also out of commission. But we observed other people there, and all the police in the vicinity, as that part of town is mostly staffers and police, and most of the staffers had enough sense to not be working on a day such as this.

I talked my girls into going to a park I knew on the Senate side, one I went to a lot when I lived at Heritage two years ago. We walked past the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court. Came to the park and found that for some reason, it was also participating in the “say no to actually using the fountains” day that is apparently going on in D.C. By that time it was very warm and we walked a few extra blocks to Union Station. It was blessed cool and offered smoothies, which were much needed and appreciated by our weary trio. We took our drinks up to the main hall, that majestic marble-rich floor bustling with activity. We people-watched and relished being in a part of town where we, as adopted “natives,” obviously stuck out. The place was packed with tourists and it felt good for once to stick out like a sore thumb.

Next we stopped by a park we used to go to after church to study – I forget its name, but there is a statue – big surprise, I know, it is D.C. after all – of a Revolutionary War commander whose name was Nathanael something and he’s riding his horse in his tripoint. Sarah went to one bench to talk to Peter on the phone and Allis and I stated under the shade of a huge oak tree and talked about all manner of random things.

We decided it would be good to go home to relax a bit and change before evening church, so we headed toward the car. We made a nearly perfect circle around the northeast corner of the city over the course of our afternoon. It was lovely to come back to a nicely air conditioned house and wash our feet, rest a while. I crashed on my bed and listened to a piano instrumental CD and lay in that happy state between consciousness and rest, where you are alert enough to know you’re resting but far gone enough to be rousted if an unexpected noise is heard.

So now we’re about to head out to evening church. After that, I’m not really sure what we’ll do. We need to go grocery shopping, but part of me wants to meet up with the group from church that goes to IHOP after the service. We’ll see.

At any rate this has been a perfect one-thirty-first of July, with two of my best friends, talking about God and relationships and walking around under a Virginia blue sky with verdant trees striking up against the white wisps of cloud that raced every now and then. I know I won’t have this forever, but I get to right now. And that is a pretty amazing thing. God has richly blessed me beyond what I ever could have asked or imagined, and I’m crazy when I let myself think He won’t be faithful.