There and Back Again—A Larson's Tale – March 25, 2008

 

 

"His [Elrond's] house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley." This statement, made by one Mr. Bilbo Baggins, accurately told of the wonders of Elrond's little haven of rest in The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien.

I now have my own Rivendell. It occurred to me that like the fabled hideaway in the story my Rivendell also is a good place for quiet conversation, good food, good friends, reading a good book (there are lots of these!) or just having a quiet moment of thinking.

Elrond (Greg) and I have wonderful conversations that energize me and I leave Imladris with the gifts of fresh ideas and a new outlook on life; this has never failed to be true.

I go to Hesston in the hopes of being an encouragement to my friends as well, and to just enjoy their company, but I come away being the one encouraged.

This year we came away with more than we bargained for…

The Holmes have three wonderful daughters with distinctive and wondrous personalities and each one is fascinating to interact with and observe. Greg and Kelly do a superb job of raising those girls, they are a role model for other parents, and they have given us much good advice for our own children.

We picked up a plethora of new "Grace-isms" which I am sure Kelly and Greg will just shudder about but we are still laughing! She is so funny! Great blessings to all! "Not fair!" LOL! It is so hard not to laugh at times!

I also picked up a tremendous life lesson from this little girl:

Have what you want but want what you have…

I don't know the entire story but the gist of it goes like this:

Gracie and my daughter, Alyssa were outside playing and somehow (this is the fuzzy part) Grace was really excited about her dog Rosie Cotton. She hugged the dog and said, "I wish I had a dog like her!" (paraphrase) Alyssa said to Grace, "Grace, she is your dog!" And Gracie, in all of her four year old wisdom, said, "YEA!" Have what you want but want what you have… from the mouths of babes…

This was a great gift! Live life the way God intended. Enjoy what you have and don't fret about what you don't…it's not that important!

This year we also left with a new game: Settlers of Catan. What a cool game! They happened to get a duplicate for Christmas and they were not able to return it so they donated to the Fellowship of the Larsons. We will enjoy time with this game!

We were blessed to be a part of Greg's church this weekend also and Friday night the youth pastor, John, sang during the Good Friday service. What a terrific voice! I would have liked to talk with him but it did not work out that I could this weekend. He has been a great blessing to Greg and to Garden Community Church. (By the way, I know how to drive there by myself now! Long story not for this missive!)

When at last we pack up and head back out into the real world I leave as Frodo and his eight companions left in the "Fellowship of the Ring", with gifts beyond wonder, peace and a new view on the issues of life.

We had a precious time this weekend and though it is just an annual trip it is satisfying and renewing! We always take away much more than we give.

 

In case any of you are confused here is the final equation:

Hesston, Ks = Rivendell = Imladris J

Until next time, so long and fare thee well good travelers! May you also find your Rivendell!