I had a really busy week.

Sometimes I actually write this blog a couple weeks in advance.  Sometimes I’ve had three or four stacked up, able to leisurely edit and schedule way ahead.

This week it’s 10:15pm on Wednesday and I’m just starting the post that will go out right after midnight my time.

Since I’m too tired to come up with something deep and thoughtful, you get the highlights of my week since last Thursday.

A year ago I had a life-changing experience that continues to truly bless my life.  I had gone a day early to an annual women’s retreat I like to attend, and since I was the only one from my church, I hoped I’d get put in a room by myself.  I was ready for some me time.

But after a long, hard volunteer work day pulling weeds and tidying up garden beds, barely able to walk because I had way overdone it, I was angry when I came back to my cabin and found other people’s belongings on two of the other beds.  I was working myself up into a really bad mood, when one of the other women walked into the room.

I recognized her as someone I had seen at family camp, whose family we’d been praying for, and I asked how things were going.  As part of her answer, she recited the entire long version of the Serenity Prayer, and I joined in it with her.  We ended up having our own little recovery meeting that night.

God had better plans for me than just time alone, dwelling on my own thoughts and plans.  He let me talk and listen to someone who instantly understood so much about me, and who had great wisdom to share.  And finding someone I was comfortable telling my deepest secrets was a gift I never expected.

I made a new friend.

So for the past year we’ve called and texted and prayed for and thought about each other, planning from that first retreat together to be roomies again.  This time on purpose.

This past Thursday involved getting packed and ready for my dear friend to pull into my driveway after the two hour drive from her home, and let me take over the next leg of the trip to camp.  We left plenty early to get settled, and then hit a local Celebrate Recovery meeting together, something we’d both looked forward to.  We did work projects the next day, and then enjoyed the women’s retreat, making a new friend together.

I was pleasantly surprised to reconnect with another friend who also came to the retreat, and it was one more example of God’s timing being perfect.  I was able to run some things by her that she was uniquely qualified to advise me on, and that will be valuable to me in a new venture I’m hoping to undertake soon.

The retreat went through Sunday, and after the drive home I had a couple hours to rest before my oldest son got home for a really quick visit.  Since he lives across the country, I love every minute I get to spend with him, but Monday morning and his leaving came way too quickly.

In the oddest three hours of my week, it took that long to find an Airbnb rental that was self-contained, near the college one of my sons will be attending in August, and available for move-in weekend.

I guess that was a much-needed space to breathe, as Tuesday morning I was up way early for me, and at my favorite radio station, YES-FM 89.3, to chat with the deejays during sharathon.  I cannot say enough good about this station and the music I’ve found there, and it was a privilege and a huge adrenaline rush to get to be live on the air!

After sneaking away for brunch with my hubby, the rest of that day was spent organizing my thoughts to present an idea to my church about a ministry I’d like to launch.  More about that if and when it becomes a reality.  But feel free to pray!  And not for my will, but for God’s will to be done. (The prayer that never fails!)

On Wednesday  I took a me afternoon, meeting with my mentor and then spending an hour or so journaling at a coffee shop to help me digest our conversation.  And then dinner and trivia with my husband, daughter and granddaughter, who is sleeping over tonight, and I finally have time to write.

And another hour of my week has flown by.

Each person has their own pace where they thrive, and I have no problem saying this past week has moved faster than I like.  I’m more comfortable with lots of white space, as my husband calls it, room to breathe and let thoughts roll around in my head until I’m ready to do something with them.  I’m in no hurry.  I like being open to whatever I hear God telling me to do with my time.

And I’m grateful that my life has ended up being one where I’m able to live it at a slower pace, that I haven’t had to have a full-time job my whole adult life.  Many women thrive working long hours and having a husband and kids and home to pour into as well.  I’m blessed I got the life I always hoped I’d have.

But once in a while, a busy week can add some much-needed spice to life.