Hopefully, most of you know that I took a week off…some time just to step away from things and relax, recuperate, rejuvenate, re-…you get the idea. If you didn’t know that I had a week off, and you were expecting to receive my weekly letter, I apologize. What can I say? “Read the announcements at the bottom of these things. It was in there. You should have known.” Hopefully, you know that I’m joking. I don’t always read everything I receive in terms of announcements either! Anyway, I am sorry if you missed the memo, but I’m not sorry for vacation.
Vacation is awesome!
I, like most people, love it when I have the chance to vacation. Some of my all-time favorite memories happened on vacation. Swimming in the ocean. Building sandcastles. Finding out that we were pregnant with Silas at Arches National Park in Utah. Eating yummy food. Getting stung by a Portuguese man o’ war. Having a seagull swipe our pizza or the other one that did his business on me. You know…the good stuff.
Vacation is awesome! I especially enjoy vacations where we get to travel, to see a part of the country that we haven’t seen, to eat foods that I haven’t eaten, or to re-visit special places that we haven’t visited in a while. Vacation has the ability to create memories. We can take vacation and come back refreshed. A step away from the grind can be healthy and healing. A nice vacation can be just the right thing, and every time that I am able to take some vacation time, I consider myself to be incredibly blessed.
This vacation was a little different than some. Don’t get me wrong, it was awesome, but we didn’t “go” anywhere. No trip to see family. No jaunt out to the ocean. No cabin in the woods. No camping at the lake. No big trip. Instead, we chose to stay home. We did what some refer to as a “staycation.”
Though we chose to stay home, we didn’t want to let the week pass like a normal week. So, we filled it full with fun, local adventures. We had a picnic and played disc golf. We went hiking out to Wolf Rocks in Forbes State Forest. We went biking on two different trails, one of which we had never ridden before. We went on a kayak trip down the Conemaugh River, leisurely spending an afternoon floating and paddling downstream, laughing and enjoying ourselves along the way. We watched movies, we played ping pong, we went on long walks, we explored, we adventured, we refrained from doing any house projects, and we stepped away from our normal routines, and it was awesome!
Now, some of you might look at our vacation itinerary and think, “Boy, that’s a lot to do in a week! You’re going to need a vacation from your vacation!” You might have a point. We jammed a lot of things into our time off, and I’m a little bit sore and tired as I sit here typing, but they were all things we enjoy. We enjoy being outside, having adventures, getting some exercise. It is fun and relaxing for us. Plus, I managed to sneak a nap or two into the schedule, and we did have some down time. Still, I am happy that we had a lot of fun activities that we don’t typically have the time to experience. I had a great vacation!
Do you want to know what I enjoyed the most about this vacation? My favoritest thing of them all?
Spending time with Christa and Silas.
It didn’t really matter what we were doing or where we were doing it, I was thankful to have full days where we could be together and spend time in each other’s presence. The best thing about the vacation was that I could just spend time with them without really worrying about getting things done or meeting deadlines or working on our project list. I enjoyed just spending time with my wife and my son. That was the best part of the vacation. Family time. I enjoyed it immensely.
We didn’t travel anywhere extraordinary. We didn’t do anything that is outside of what we try to do with some regularity anyway (we like to hike, to bike, to kayak…although this was more concentrated and intentional). Still, we had a great time, and the reason for this great time was that we were together. The three of us, laughing, sharing, experiencing, (sometimes sweating, being hungry, tired and sore), but we were there, together, and it was glorious.
Right now, in this moment, and in many moments during my time off, I am thankful for our approach to the vacation, and I am grateful that I had the time to spend the time with my family. In all reality, it could have gone differently. I could have been upset. I could have been angry that we didn’t get to travel or that we didn’t get to “go” and do something unique, something special. Fortunately, this was not my attitude, and I’m grateful that we had an enjoyable time doing the small things, together.
This makes me wonder: How does this type of attitude translate to my relationship with God?
Sometimes, I fear that I miss the best part of my relationship with God because I am too busy looking for the big things, the huge experiences, the mountaintop occurrences. Sometimes, I miss the best thing that God has to offer me because I haven’t gone anywhere or done anything out of the ordinary. I’m looking for some glorious vacation, some grand adventure, some out of the ordinary experience, and I miss the very thing that should be treasured most…spending time with Jesus, basking in the glow of the Holy Spirit, being in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Sometimes, I miss out on the presence of God in my day-to-day life, in the ordinary passing of time, in the grind, in the routine, even in the vacations, because I am too busy looking for a “bigger” thing.
“I’m not going anywhere on a mission trip…how could I possibly experience God in this circumstance?”
“We’re just staying at home! We’re not even seeing anyone else! How could we possibly come closer to God in a time like this?”
Sometimes, I think that I miss the absolute best thing, spending time in God’s presence, because I am searching for some type of elevated experience…some miraculous healing, some mighty move of the Spirit, some anointed mission trip, some magnanimous time in worship, some _____. What I really need? To appreciate the fellowship that I have with God in each moment.
As my vacation time ends and we return to our normal schedule, I know that I won’t get to spend as much time with Christa, with Silas. There will be school, there will be work, there will be responsibilities and household necessities. There will be times when we will be separated from each other. Though that is the case, I hope to appreciate the time that we spend together even more, to appreciate evenings that we do have, the times that we can share, the experiences and memories that we can create. I also hope to continue to be intentional about spending time with them…to not be so busy that I brush them aside, or to not be so tired that I can’t engage with them when I am at home. I hope to continue in the importance and the joy of our relationship, even when we return to a “normal” routine.
In my life with Christ, I hope to do the same. To celebrate when there are the big occasions, but more than that, to appreciate the relationship in my everyday life, to realize what is most important…time with God. Time with God in my daily routines, time with God when I’m happy, time with God when I’m upset, time with God when ____. The thing that can bring me the most joy, the most contentment, the most satisfaction, the best life that I can live…spending time with God.
This doesn’t need to be something extraordinary. It doesn’t need to be some solitary time spent in a monastery, while doing nothing but fasting, worshiping, reflecting and praying (although that would be good too), but just the normal, practicing of the presence of God (I borrowed that line from Brother Laurence…awesome little, classic book that is well worth a read), recognizing God in our day-to-day lives, realizing that God is with us as we wash the dishes, as we cut the grass, as we type our papers, as we head to work, as we drive our car, that God is there and we can rejoice in God’s presence.
Philippians 4:4 says,
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
It doesn’t say, “Rejoice in the Lord on mission trips.” Or “Rejoice in the Lord when you’re doing a service project.” It doesn’t even say “Rejoice in the Lord on Sunday mornings at church.” We’re asked to rejoice in the Lord always, to find joy in our relationship with God at all times. As we begin to practice this, as we begin to recognize God in our lives, as we get to know God better, as we spend time in God’s presence, we will find great joy there. We will find great peace there. We will find that time with Jesus, really is the best way that we could spend any time. We are to rejoice in our time with God, always.
Do you know what else? God values you and time spent with you as well.
Psalm 147:11 reads:
“the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”
It is an amazing thing to consider: God delights in me! God enjoys spending time with me!
Friend, I hope that you know that to be true. I hope that you can find great joy in spending time with God, and I hope that you realize how much God has done to have a relationship with you, that God enjoys spending time with you.
At the end of it all, when this life is done, when all of the experiences have passed, and when our time is over, I think we will look back at our lives much like I look back on our vacation. Sure, there were awesome things that we were able to do (and there were setbacks as well), but the best thing, the most important thing, the thing that stands above everything else? The time we spent just being with God.
~ Pastor Chris
