How adventure found me in a strawberry patch

Adventure keeps showing up around me. The word. Quotes. Opportunities to embrace the concept. {Yes, I talked about this yesterday too.}

On Tuesday, adventure looked like impulsively picking strawberries while wearing Rachel.

I love picking berries – strawberries in April or May, blueberries in June, and blackberries in July. It’s usually the kind of activity I plan with friends when my big kids are home from school. But it needed to happen on Tuesday because 80 degrees and sunshine are exactly my kind of weather.

The Patch is a new local strawberry patch basically right in town. Hello, convenience. I was driving by on my way to tend to a lake house I manage. So on my way home, I stopped at the Dollar General, bought a bottle of water, and paid the silly convenience fee to get cash back.

All because picking strawberries was my adventure.

And I’m glad I did.

Rachel smiled. She tried to grab berries and enjoyed the one she got her hands around.

Of course, when Ben got in the mini van at the bus stop, he immediately saw and smelled the strawberries and said, “You picked strawberries without me?” He ate a whole bowl full when we got home and I promised we’d go again when he wasn’t in school. That boy embodies adventure, and I’m glad he’s mine.

I’ve been #choosingJOY the past couple of years and God is still teaching me about that. Most recently the lessons have come when I see an opportunity for adventure and embark upon it.

So, here in April, I’m choosing adventure for 2016. I wasn’t going to choose a one-word focus for the year, but it’s clearly choosing me with two-thirds of the year to go. Like seasons, the kinds of adventure change. But here we are, on the brink of summer. And I’m ready.

What adventures are choosing you? {Tweet that.}
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This reminded me of another lesson I learned in a strawberry patch three years ago :: "Mothering is a weary job sometimes, but I want to say yes. I want to speak with a softer, kinder voice. I want to remember we don't always have to be in a hurry to get to the next thing. I want to let them jump and make messes. Yes, I want to teach them truth and problem-solving strategies. Yes, I want them to learn responsibility. But I want them to live joyfully." {Read the whole post here.}

And clearly I like to write about strawberries :: 2011. 2012. 2014.
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