Lessons from Vacation

Well, we're home again, after a wonderful two-and-a-half week trip to the sunny south. I am sorry to be so absent from my blog, but I was too busy enjoying the time away with our family and friends! The time slipped away far too quickly and we left wishing that we had another week! A week wouldn't have been enough, though . . . since what vacation really makes me long for is heaven. Though it may sound "cheesy", at moments like that, I always console myself with the true and certain hope of heaven. In heaven, we won't have to say goodbye to dear friends like Karl and Chris. In heaven, there will be no constraints on our time. We will enjoy the glorious creation of the new heavens and the new earth without any need to pack up and leave again. We won't have to take airplanes to get to air that is (relatively) clean and sunny blue skies. Edifying conversations, worship times, and the encouragement of like-minded friends will not need to end because of the relentless pressure of time. Our every need will be provided and our striving will cease. We will have laid our burdens down, to spend eternity in joyful worship. Isn't your soul hungry for that tonight?

To me, vacation is a brief taste of that. It is a coming away, a time to rest, a laying down of the concerns of everyday life in order to spend more time together as a family and more time with Him, in a beautiful natural setting. These are my ideals of vacation. In reality, there is always the next meal to plan for, the baby to feed, the children to care for, even (gasp!) children to discipline. But in as much as vacation can remind us, in a very small and feeble way, of the Rest that remains for the people of God, it is a wonderful time.

Vacation also reminds us of our human frailty and need for rest and "re-creation." We are not God. We are frail humans. We get tired. We need a break. We get sick. Our bodies need time to rest, not just occasionally but EVERY day. And sometimes we need more than just an 8 hour break, we need a week-long break. We cannot just keep going and going and going, no matter how invincible we feel.

I am thankful for our vacation. We enjoyed the pool, the time with friends, seeing the girls play happily for hours in the water, eating yummy food and being in a warm climate with the windows thrown open and feet bare. It was a truly lovely time!

I do have some beautiful pictures but blogger is not cooperating tonight. I'll try again tomorrow! We have been home for a day and a half now and my mountain of laundry is finally done; life should be settling into somewhat of a routine soon. The hardest part of vacation is getting back into normal life again afterwards!