Vacation Bible Style

In navigating this years vacation plans it occurs to me that there are three basic questions we all face with this annual blessing.

#1 Who is going?

God always seemed to like large groups to go on adventures, (need I say all those Israelites in the Desert, the Seventy Jesus sent out, he almost always had 12 or more with him). So personally to me the more the merrier. Some of our favorite vacation memories were when we brought nieces, nephews, grand children, family friends. Most of all bring The Father, Jesus and The Holy Spirit.

#2 Where are we going?

Adventure is the name of the game… God likes to take us out of our comfort zone no doubt because he knows what it does for our soul, think about Abraham leaving home, Paul out in Athens, or Jacob sleeping on a rock. Gary Smalley’s study on what was the common denominator in couples who stayed married, didn’t turn out to be that they went to church or prayed together it was they camped, yes, camped. Camping brings adventure beauty, struggle……watch this movie clip.

#3 What are we going to do when we get there?

Fight, oh yes my family struggles once they all get vacation expectations and close quarters, the battles have been intense. Getting 5 or more Dilmores with this scenario all cooped up in a tent or cabin, motel room. A recipe for fireworks of the temper kind.

The more I have processed this over the years the more I see that God rigged it that way. I could just quote King Arthur and say that “there is a peace that only comes on the other side of war” Forgiveness dosen’t come easy, nor does intimacy, not the real stuff anyway and the masks start coming off when folks get dead tired from walking in a hot amusement park all day.

The really cool thing about all this fighting is that through your families cracks, God love shines if you are willing to go there… I have never felt anything better than to be forgiven when I know I did not have it coming, that’s true love and true intimacy and you can only get there through struggle…just sayin.

So this year when it breaks out on your vacation, start praying God will bring His forgiveness and share it with those who really need it. WE WILL ALL SURELY NEED IT WHEN WE GET HOME.

Those families in the Bible, they fought now didn’t they… that’s vacation Bible Style to Me….