My husband and I finally got to enjoy a weekend that wasn’t “scheduled” with activities, projects or work-related tasks. We took the opportunity to attend a festival we hadn’t been to in more than 10 years. The fact that the festival had now been moved to one of our favorite places on the planet — Lake Ripley, Wis. — was a bonus.
 

My parents and grandparents took me to that lake when I was a child. When my husband and I began dating, we visited there and then we began taking our family there for outings. It was cheap, clean, family-friendly, and still is.
 

Now my children take their friends to the lake and still enjoy meeting us there.
 

It is a place to sit back and enjoy God’s handiwork and watch other families enjoy the summertime. We have camped nearby and found a church we like and attend when we stay over the weekends. We always told the kids we were lucky to have God everywhere we go. The things that last are God and family. We always thought they were sick of hearing that. But in an odd way, we found out it sunk in.

The revelation turned out to be an early Father’s Day gift to my husband and for me ...
 

On this recent trip, while the sounds of pottery kilns roared and the intoxicating smells wafting from the Lion’s Club grills filled the air, we sat back in the sun and enjoyed the company of one of our daughters who recently moved to Wisconsin and joined us for a day at the lake.
 

As we soaked in the sun and the breeze, we shared stories of our past visits there with my daughter’s new boyfriend. While we reminisced about the nearby camping trips that always included a trip to Ripley, and the long list of friends and family we brought to the lake, my daughter shared some of the moments and conversations she had with her siblings while growing up.
 

I always knew children don’t share everything with their parents and you don’t find out all their pranks and misdeeds until they become adults and it’s  “safe to share.” What went on in their heads and behind our backs? This day at the lake, what went on in the mind of those children came to light. 
 

“We thought we were rich,” my daughter revealed.
 

In all parental eloquence we said, “What?”
 

“We” — meaning my daughter and her sibs — “always thought we were rich,” she repeated.
 

“Why in the world would you think that?” we asked.
 

“Cause you just made everything special,” she said.
 

“Really,” we said, amazed and quizzical at this innocent thought process. Our minds reeled at what could be special about bargains we struggled to get, the things we never got to do, the remodeling that never got done, and the endless dreams that stayed on paper or in our minds.
 

“We never needed anything,” she continued.
 

Again, our minds jumped to the closets we never had in a house  with one bathroom and full of kids.

Her estimations of “need” were vastly different from ours, apparently.
 

“You and dad were always good at making us see how lucky we were,” she said.
 

We laughed and shook our heads and went on to another subject and continued to watch the other “rich people” enjoy the lake.
 

However, after we said our goodbyes and headed home, my husband and I spent the ride laughing and thinking of all the things we did with our kids because we were NOT rich.
 

We went to the lake because we couldn’t afford a backyard pool like many of our friends had. We ate from coolers because we couldn’t afford to take six people to a restaurant.
 

We had “pick-pocket” suppers on a blanket in front of the TV instead of going to the movies.
 

We camped for vacation because hotels were expensive and had camp pies and s’mores for a treat.
 

We couldn’t afford the elaborate Barbie Houses at the store, so we made one that looked like our house for all three girls to share.
 

We may not have known we were rich back in the days that we worked two jobs, juggled bills and babies, but we know now.
 

We still aren’t rich ... only in the ways that matter most, thanks be to God. Happy Father’s Day!