There’s a lot of things in our life that we didn’t do so well for our family. I am definitely the first to admit that. Just the other day, we were talking about some schooling choices we made for our kids, to the best of our knowledge and what we thought was best at the time, but looking back we wonder if maybe something else would have been better.
But there is one thing that I think we did medium-well, by God's grace. We had fun family vacations where we made lots of special memories.
Granted, this was partly selfish, because I looked forward to this life-line of times away. A different place and pace, to combat the drudgery, routine and pressure of ministry. It was something I looked forward to for weeks and months. It helped us get perspective and have a healthier rest-work balance. It wasn't always easy or convenient to plan, but we somehow snuck it into our full church planting schedule. I remember many 1-week vacations where we left after church on Sunday (after hubby preached) and returned on Saturday afternoon (so we wouldn't miss a worship service the next day, where hopefully hubby wouldn't have to preach).
We made at effort and made it work. On our mission shoestring budget we couldn't afford much, so we almost always stayed at one of our mission's holiday homes where we could make big meals for our growing boys. This usually meant an older cabin-like place that wasn't always so clean or inviting, but situated pleasantly with fresh air, green trees and ocean views. We did what we could to make it work. (Are you sensing a theme emerging here?)
Envision if you will....camp style toilets that "flush" with foamy liquid oozing out of one side of the bowl. Daily vacuuming up roly-poly bugs that appeared each morning out of the old woven mat floor. Swimming in mucky oceans littered with plastic bags. Built in alfresco air coming in through the sunshine slits in the wall cracks and hoppers greeting us in the middle of the night in the dark bathroom hallway. Oh, and stuffy, midnight rides trying to sleep in the car with 5 people and a dog. Ferry crossings with queazy tummies. And flooded tents prompting packing up the car to head home at 4am.
In these not-so-nice-places and spaces, we made really nice family memories. Envision.... stacks of pancakes to feed hungry boys, hours of board games where dad always wins. Sandy feet kicking boogy boards in seaweed salt water. Homemade chocolate chips cookies, still hot out of the oven. Rubber raft journeys down slow moving streams. Everyone gathered to hear captivating books read aloud. Falling asleep to the sound of crickets and crashing ocean waves.
It was here that we made memories that as I think of them, warm my heart and smart my eyes. And hopefully we exemplified attitudes of thankfulness and contentment with a try-to-make-things-work mindset.
I’ll have to ask my kids and see what they say… I am sure they remember the ridiculous and pathetic, but hopefully they remember, as I do, the rich and unique times together. With my aging heart, I am filled with thankfulness for these cheered sprinkled gifts of God of family holidays together.
