It's not a vacation
It’s that time of year when we do a lot of traveling. Every May I have leadership meetings for our teams and for IT. As well every two years we fly to the states as a family to visit churches, family and friends. The neighbors always say, “Oh have a nice vacation”. I just say “thanks,” and give a deep sigh. For most people, I suppose, flying somewhere means exotic places and lots of rest and relaxation. We know differently, so don’t believe the lie.
We’ll be visiting in the states this summer, and we always go with lots of mixed feelings.
...Glad to see loved ones again,
…really needing to give lots or reports about what we do in order to ensure intelligent funding and prayers,
…yet not having enough time to fit in all these meetings,
…wishing there were just a few more days to do something for the kids and ourselves –like on vacation,
…yet feeling like nearly 2 months away from home is already too long to be away from home, life and ministry.
It’s like things are on hold during this time. When I consider the $7000 price tag just to fly us over here, I remind myself “it’s not a vacation” because if it were, I would probably opt for two weeks in the Carribean somewhere!
So, here we are in the middle of “hurricaine season”. I am already on the road and in the air. My family will be joining me in a week. The kids have been emailing that they miss me “very, very much”, Reinhild too, and so this just makes the time even longer.
Below are some pictures from a year ago when I was traveling home from our leadership meetings. The window blew out at 30,000 feet, we took a quick dive, lost compression –and oxygen. The masks came down and we basically scrambled for our lives.
…Thought you’d be interested in that.
We’ll be visiting in the states this summer, and we always go with lots of mixed feelings.
...Glad to see loved ones again,
…really needing to give lots or reports about what we do in order to ensure intelligent funding and prayers,
…yet not having enough time to fit in all these meetings,
…wishing there were just a few more days to do something for the kids and ourselves –like on vacation,
…yet feeling like nearly 2 months away from home is already too long to be away from home, life and ministry.
It’s like things are on hold during this time. When I consider the $7000 price tag just to fly us over here, I remind myself “it’s not a vacation” because if it were, I would probably opt for two weeks in the Carribean somewhere!
So, here we are in the middle of “hurricaine season”. I am already on the road and in the air. My family will be joining me in a week. The kids have been emailing that they miss me “very, very much”, Reinhild too, and so this just makes the time even longer.
Below are some pictures from a year ago when I was traveling home from our leadership meetings. The window blew out at 30,000 feet, we took a quick dive, lost compression –and oxygen. The masks came down and we basically scrambled for our lives.
…Thought you’d be interested in that.
posted by Paul at
7:26 PM
2 Comments:
so you're not on vacation?
i feel your pain. i hope you will somehow find time for a week or so of rest and renewal together as a family! you guys have been running really, really hard these past couple of years. you need time away from all the pressures and simply enjoy one another. i hope and pray it happens.
By
Tom, at 6:35 AM
Hi Paul.
Well, my take on that vacation thing follows. In the fine print of conditions in marriage:
If you choose to marry someone whose parents live far from your own, and
if you have children that you want to have a relationship with those extended family members, and
if you choose work that is far from both families,
then "vacations" will be dictated and dominated by travel and extended family needs.
This has been our experience for our marriage, and only recently -- when our oldest was 11 -- did we take our first full week's vacation apart from extended family. And it wasn't to an exotic destination, either.
The trick, I think, is to find the moments within the framework of time away from a "regular" schedule to savor your little family. Maybe it's the time in the rental car, or just a single meal out with just the five of you, or a walk, but some kind of "found" time can really make the difference in the feel of a "must do" trip.
Hope you all do find some time to enjoy each other!
Lynn
By
Anonymous, at 10:53 PM
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