I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious Sunday morning dawns on the Texas Gulf Coast!
What a week! My heart is full! I got to spend the past 6 days with my precious family in Destin, Florida on vacation. More specifically I got to:
- Ride 18+ hours total in my truck with my Beautiful Bride & Tender Warriors. The conversations, songs sang and yes, arguments, are priceless.
- Attend a Mobile Bay Bears baseball game - eat "baseball food", talk about who amongst the players on the field we think will make it to the Major Leagues and watch Landry sprint as fast as he could across the outfield, trying to beat all the other kids, because his two older brothers promised him $5 each if he won...he came in 2nd and swears that the kid who came in first took off early! :)
- Go snorkeling, tried to find crabs, tried in vain to catch some little fish in a net, played Frisbee & football in the surf (the Haslam's always end up playing sports!) and watched as Landry proudly drove our boat back into the harbor.
- Go jet skiing - the 2 older boys had their own jet ski's, Kath had one and Landry & I rode together. We saw several dolphins and as my Beautiful Bride putted along on hers, much to everyone's dismay, a sweet little dolphin decided to swim alongside her for a long time - perhaps the empathy of one mother to another.
- Watch my Beautiful Bride check an item off her bucket list as she swam with, got pulled by, hugged & kissed a dolphin. The thought of that special day makes my heart happy all over again...and it was really incredible to watch as 3 boys realized, in actions & words, that the day was not about them...it was about their sweet Mom and something she has always wanted to do.
- Spend a glorious evening on the beach behind The Back Porch restaurant. This was actually Payton's idea and it was simply awesome. The boys played volleyball, swam, played football, played Frisbee, etc., as Kath & I sat on towels, enjoying appetizers & margarita's, talking about life. That night ended too early...
- Spend an incredible day on Crab Island with our special friends, the Moore's. Not only did we got to spend the day with them, we got to meet & spend time with others members of their family. We swam, played volleyball, talked about life, paddle boarded, played on a jungle gym in the ocean and then suddenly, this time ended to soon too...
- Have more incredible meals than one deserves to experience. Yes, the food was amazing but it was such more than that. It was sitting with my Beautiful Bride & Tender Warriors on the upper deck of The Back Porch overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, talking. It was sitting with the Moore family, all 16 of us, talking about hopes, dreams, struggles, etc. It was sitting with Kath & the boys at Harbor Docks restaurant, again overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, watching the charter boat come in with all the fish they had caught, watching the fireworks, talking, just enjoying being together...truly incredible.
It was funny; as we packed to head home yesterday I felt great peace in my heart. Yes, I had an incredible time and was so very blessed by each member of my family. Yes, I was very grateful for every incredible experience that we had shared. And at the same time I did not wish for more. I neither wanted to stay longer nor did I want to be home right now. It was at this moment that I caught, and fully understood, contentment.
This week I stayed on top of my daily quiet time - reading, writing notes to my family, putting a quote on Twitter & Facebook every day, etc. A few days I woke up very early, without the alarm clock, feeling refreshed & ready to start my day. On Thursday I came across a quote on Facebook that I want to share with you:
"When you are in the final days of your life, what will you want? Will you hug that college degree in the walnut frame? Will you ask to be carried to the garage so you can sit in your car? Will you find comfort in rereading your financial statement? Of course not. What will matter then will be people. If relationships will matter most then, shouldn't they matter most now?" - Max Lucado
Beautiful, and perhaps challenging, isn't it? You see, it wasn't the things that we did - though we are blessed beyond measure & I am extremely grateful for our experiences - that made this vacation so special. It was the invest in each other and in others. It was the countless conversations, the listening, the investment in others, the being fully present that made this vacation so very special. Without realizing it at the time, we were living out this beautiful quote.
This is my challenge for each one of us this week Friends, that we would truly live out this quote. It is so easy for each one of us to get caught up in life, in stuff, however at the end what will matter most is people & our relationships with them. Let's make people - starting with those closest to us and working out from there together - our #1 priority and focus on our relationships with them. While I can't guarantee this will mean you "win the game", get the promotion, get the dream house, etc., I do guarantee that you will experience a peace & contentment that is indescribable. I also guarantee you will never regret pursuing people - and let's not overthink it, I am not talking about the unhealthy stuff here - while the pursuit of careers, money & possessions at the expense of people, is a road filled with regret, disappointment, anger and brokenness - broken lives & broken families.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevn@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, enjoy the rest of your weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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