Steve and I were able to get away – ALONE – for about 24 hours this past weekend. A true luxury. We didn’t have any plans or reservations, so we just drove up the coast a little ways and stopped in one of my very favorite beach communities. Carlsbad isn’t impossibly upscale like La Jolla or Del Mar, it’s not overrun and overpriced like Coronado, and it’s not this big scene like Pacific Beach. To me, it’s charming. Unique restaurants, eclectic shops, miles of beach. Thank you, sweet baby Jesus.

Steve and I decided to do something very healing for body and soul. We went to an oceanfront restaurant and shared a plate of King Crab legs. My kind of wellness program. I sat staring out at the dolphins surfacing in the ocean while he cracked and retrieved every last bit of crab. We talked about the future and how many things feel cloudy right now. We talked about the places in our life where we need to act and the places where we need to wait.

The next morning we went to a local joint for breakfast and Steve read to me while we ate chorizo and juevos rancheros. Steve was reading Donald Miller’s newest, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I read it when it released, but I loved having it read to me over breakfast and being reminded of the importance of living a better story. A simple message with profound implications.

After breakfast we walked on the beach and talked about the future more, how we might add some life and risk to our story. I loved having time and space to really talk and process and consider with Steve. We talked about my writing career and what’s clarifying in that realm. We talked about the 50K race he’s running this fall (barefoot!). We talked about the Navy and how the remainder of Steve’s career might unfold.

We came home to Lane’s sinus infection. Isn’t that the way it works! Regardless of the mayhem that is our home currently, I’m still feeling very grateful for that little blip of time to disappear and walk on the beach and breathe a bit.

I’m entering into a summer lull of sorts, recovering from a busy first-half of the year and planning for the fall.  Thank you to those of you who invited me to your churches, organizations, and events over the last few months. It’s been amazing to talk with so many of you about life’s foreign places and the beauty that just might be waiting for us even in the most unfamiliar of landscapes. Thank you for seeking transformation and for desiring to live openly and authentically. We’ve had some valuable conversations, haven’t we.

I’m looking forward to what God may have for me in the fall. If you have a church or group near you who would like me to come talk about some of the themes in Found Art, please leave a comment or email me at leeana@gypsyink.com.

I’ll leave you with a short-list of what I’m looking forward to this summer:

1. My family coming to visit in July.
2. A beach vacation in August.
3. Working on a proposal for book #2.
4. Prosecco by the pool.
5. Speaking at my home church, Flood, on July 4.
6. Swim lessons with two 18-month-olds. Nuts.
7. Reading voraciously.
8. Celebrating the upcoming arrival of Tina and Amie’s babies.
9. Spending some QT with my mom while she’s on summer break from school.
10. Seeing E,P,L, the movie.

Of course, now you have to post your looking-forward-to list . . .