summer vaca

I just got back from five nights in Florida with my family.  It was the best trip of my life. In my late teens and twenties, I backpacked through Europe, landed on a glacier in Alaska, fell in love with Vancouver, and strolled along beaches in the south of France, Jamaica, and the Caribbean. 

I loved my adventures in my previous life, but I had given up on travel since I became a parent. It seemed overwhelming with a family of six.  This week reminded me how fun it is to go and do new things; hence, my column will be an assortment of my reflections from our vaca.

First of all, I would not have booked the trip if my friend did not invite me over and say we were doing it.  I needed a nudge!  I needed encouragement. I needed to know that I was not doing it alone. 

Is not that what we all need more of in life?  I do not mean just with travel.  I mean with everything!  We all need friends to come along side us and encourage us to make good things happen. 

Next, the first sunset blew me away!  We landed, arrived, unpacked, and hit the beach.  When the sun began to hide for the night, I felt like I had purchased a front row seat to an amazing art show. The masterpiece was in the sky over St. Pete’s Beach. 

I was in awe!  It was the most beautiful work of nature that I had ever seen.  I know I had previously seen sunsets too that must have been just as beautiful, but it was like my eyes were open to see everything so clearly.  I did not appreciate nature or know how to bask in the stillness and just take it all in years ago. 

Things have changed in the past twenty years for me though. I did know on this trip how to fall in love with the blue and pink sky that seemingly changed every few seconds just for me.  I knew how to lay back in my chair and thank the Lord for His creation.

Lastly, one of my greatest laughs on the trip was when my son and I decided to ride the paddle boats.  My daughter and her friend had gone out about an hour before us. We wondered where on earth they were when we stood in line to get our boat.  A lady came by and told the attendant there were two little girls stuck and really struggling.  We decided at that point to leave the line and go help them along the canal. 

We rounded a manicured corner of the resort and spotted a boat that had been abandoned. We knew it was the girls!  They gave up and jumped ship.  We did what anyone who desperately wanted a paddle boat ride would do, we got in their boat and took off.  My son took the wheel and with our legs in motion, we cruised down the waterway. 

He was the best driver!  Anytime we got stuck, he would tell me to peddle backwards just enough to back us up, and then we would take off again going the right direction.  It was a blast! 

I started thinking that our ride was a lot like my life.  I do go forward, but then sometimes I have to back up to get things right.  Luckily, Jesus Christ is with me all of the way!  He stays by my side as I travel through my life on earth.  Deuteronomy 31:6 says in the New Living Translation “For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you.  He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”  No matter where you go this week, near or far, take that truth with you.