Sometimes things happen in your life and you just know it was a God thing. You look towards the Heavens and say, “I know that was you, God! Thanks!”

This past weekend, Matt’s work, Ranger Heating and Cooling, had a work party. They rented a Charter Yacht and we floated around Puget Sound for 3 hours. It was a wonderful evening! It’s a very rare thing to work at a place where coworkers and their families seem like family. It is most definitely a blessing. This get together was just for coworkers and spouses/significant others.

Some things Matt and I learned during this boat tour. I, spending most of my life in the Midwest, do not have sea legs. Graceful I am not! We also learned that I can’t handle the sway of a boat. I spent 95% of the time up on the bow of the boat with the wind in my face. As long as I was in the front with the wind, I was totally fine. Apparently if (or when, if you ask Matt) we get a boat, it has to be a bow rider.

At one point in the evening, everyone gathered in the back of the boat for a raffle and awards time. These can be pretty entertaining with LOTS of laughter, but like I said, I can’t handle the sway of the boat. So I stayed out front while everyone else was in the back. I did attempt to join everyone but we got caught in ripples of a couple BIG container ships. So, I politely and quickly excused myself to the front of the boat.

As I sat by myself, I looked towards the Heaven and thanked God. With Matt working such long hours this past month, I’ve felt like a single parent during the week. (Shout out to all you single parents out there…I have NO idea how you do that without going completely insane!) I sat in silence soaking in the beautiful Mount Rainier. It was a gorgeous evening with a clear sky. I didn’t see mountains growing up. I am constantly in awe of this grand mountain. As I sat, I just let the stress of the past few weeks melt away. I sat there in the glory of God’s creation and prayed for peace and calm in my heart. I’m a very introverted person who has had VERY little time to recharge my batteries. This is EXACTLY what I needed.

After the awards time was over, people came back to the bow of the boat and we had fun chatting and laughing. My heart needs to have laughter. This is something that has been missing the past few weeks. I need to remember to laugh more.

After a while, everyone got cold. The sun was setting and we were on the water.  I brought a coat, thanks to my husbands urging. I put my coat on and Matt and I sat on the bow of the boat for the rest of the evening. Just the two of us. It was so nice to talk without being interrupted by kids constantly. It was nice being able to talk freely about hopes and dreams without little ears around.

Since Matt grew up here, it was fun having him explain all the different things we saw on the water. Houseboats, homes right off the water, boatsheds, container ships, tug boats, and so on and so on. (I’m sure you noticed my boat lingo isn’t always correct. I’ll get there.)

It was also extremely interesting and strangely beautiful to see the Port of Tacoma in the foreground with the glorious view of the mountain in the background.

After we docked, I could move freely around the boat. We weren’t rocking too much since we were tied up. We chatted a bit longer with co-workers and then headed for our car. Once we got to our car, we chatted with Matt’s installation partner and his wife. We met them at a camp job that all 4 of us worked at about 12 years ago. It’s always fun to reminisce. We chatted for almost an hour before we decided we should really head home to our kiddos.

I know that was you, God. Thank you very much for giving me such an amazing evening to help recharge my batteries and go into the coming week with a complete fresh start!