My little family and I make a weekly jaunt up to Bridalveil Falls before church every Sunday. To be honest, we despise 1 o'clock church, that's why we must fill up the wasted time with something productive. And productive it is. This time instead of letting Atticus immerse himself completely in the chilly water at the base of the Falls, we sent a rubber ducky down a stream and took turns running down the edge of the stream as speedily as we could to anticipate the duck as he bobbed over and under rapids. On the way back to the car I whipped out the grapes and granola, which the kids devoured, and watched heavy drops of juice dribble out of the lips of my eager, hungry children. Isn't it a satisfying feeling to be able to feed your children tasty food, provide wholesome entertainment, meander together in nature, and just call the moment "delightful". Yes, we must make our homes a little bit of heaven on earth but sometimes being at home doesn't cut it.

Where will we go on Sundays in Turkey? On a bus, a train, another bus , and finally to church. I'm sure the children will make a home of the church since we will probably be there most of the day on Sundays. Perhaps the Turks will consider Sunday a leisurely day and few people will be found on the streets. Maybe we will be able to call obscure streets of Istanbul ours as we weave our way to church in the morning. Then Shermie can scream to his hearts content and we won't have to explain for the milionth time that our little boy is a just a tad crazy. I already can sense that feeling I had on my mission coming on. That feeling of carefreedom. No deadlines, no cerfews, no meetings, no jobs, no extended family, no birthday parties, no worries about what to cook for the potluck, no time to get up in the morning, etc. Those moments where time stands still. They tend to happen in every country except for the United States. It's always in the late afternoon when the sun is thinking about setting. And it usually happens in narrow streets bordered high by old apartment buildings. Those are the moments that stand out in my memory.