As a family, we recently visited Smith Lake near Arley Alabama.  It was beautiful!  Our dear friends invited us to get some r and r at their lake house.  For  my hubby Doug and I the r and r stands for rest and relaxation.  My favorite part was a wicker swing on the deck where I actually got some reading in.   For the boys, r and r  means recreation and recreation.   Every new adventure is another opportunity to find fun.  From the fishing, to swimming to the boating, there were plenty of giggles, splashes and laughs.

    So we went and enjoyed the sites and sounds of the lake.   The boys enjoyed fishing off the dock, boating with Mr. and Mrs Wade and once again dining on the catfish at the Arley Coffee Shop!   It happened to be our anniversary so for our years of wedded bliss, Doug and I earned lemon ice box pie!  Once again, we found the friendliest service and great food in Arley.

     The area is charming, with everyone warm and eager welcome us with southern hospitality, it made the weekend even more of a dream.   But there were a few moments that hit me.  One was talking to Sheriff Rick outside of the Coffee shop, and watching the orange glow of the sunset fill the sky.  Since my cancer battle, sunsets and sunrises have a special signifigance.  It was probably among the top five sunsets I've ever seen. 

      The next moment that hit me between the eyes was when our friend at the Lake Mr. Wade insisted upon giving us a couple of pecan seedlings.  He was telling us how he had one that grew and grew and grew.  It produced so many pecans, you'd could barely eat them all.  But he said it took about eight years for the seedlings to grow large enough and  mature enough to produce pecans.

     Eight years, I thought is a long time in a microwave generation.  We are so used to buying it today and using it today.  But how wonderful to plan for the future and plant something that might give back pecans for decades to come.  The Wades home was filled with pictures or their grown children, grand children and great grandchild.   Just like the pecan tree, it takes time to grow a family.  But the time is worth reaping the sweet harvest.

   I visualized how old the boys would be as they picked up the pecans.  I imagined and hoped perhaps the tree could be planted ina place that their children and grandchildren could enjoy the pecans.

        As I was daydreaming and processing the long term benefit of putting this seedling into the ground today, he said what I was thinking.  "Your youngest should still be in the house when this produces pecans."  What a great thing to pass on to our children... a tree that keeps on giving whether we are here or not..

     That's sort of how it is with passing on wisdom,  and faith for our children.  It's planting a seed that  hopefully even after we are no longer there by their side... will continue to feed them spiritually.