Vacation

This afternoon I want to talk with you about when things don’t go as you had planned. Maybe you can relate.

Our family is fresh off our vacation for the summer and rested and ready for what comes next, I suppose. Now, I’ve always loved the beach, not so much the sand but the sounds and the wind and the waves and the food and the schedule or lack thereof. In preparation for our trip to the beach I pulled out a novel, a book of sermons by Gardner C. Taylor, and a memoir to take with me. I had started all three before we went, which proves critical for me to be motivated to read on vacation. (In the past Michelle and I have always worked to carve out time for one another to be able to read and just think while at the beach.) I also was preparing to pray about certain areas in my life where discernment is needed at this time.

Well, lo and behold, two days before we were to leave, Michelle was called to KY to care for her parents and I went on to the beach with our three kids in tow to meet my sister, her family and my parents.

I did little reading at the beach. Also, instead of much quiet time spent in prayer for discernment, my prayers were simple, short, and simply asking for strength and wisdom. This was not my intention, for I had planned to pray about very specific topics and issues; instead I could only pray in broad strokes. God, please give me strength for today. I was so very tired and this was all I could do.

Maybe Anne Morrow Lindbergh was right when she said, The beach is not the place to work; to read, write or think. I rested and laughed and jogged and prayed and was as quiet as I could be. (Incidentally, the Lindbergh quote was from the first line of her wonderful book, Gift from the Sea. The first line was about as far as I got on vacation in this profound memoir.)

I realize the strength God has given me was in the form of rest. Discernment will have to come in time. I wonder, where do you need God’s strength today? Are you even aware of where it is needed in your life? If not, perhaps God will show you…

Blessings,

Ande