I just got back from a carefully orchestrated vacation with my husband and children. This was Plan C. Plan A and Plan B got nixed because of pandemic-related challenges. Life and death got in the way last summer and we didn’t get to take a vacation. It felt more important to get one in this summer.
It was a little different for me this year. This was the first time in my adult life that I wasn’t vacationing from a paying job. Until my oldest started kindergarten, I had always worked outside the home. Since then, I’ve been working from home and usually had a steady enough workload to stay busy. I won’t speak for all writers, but for me the ability to work wherever I want is definitely a perk. That said, my work is evolving. I closed my business and am trusting God on a new writing path. For the moment, this involves me putting in a lot of “work” time that no one else sees and that I may or may not ever get a paycheck for. I’ll write more about that some other time.
I mention that now simply as a point of reference that I’m functioning in a different type of working environment. I wasn’t taking a break from an employer. Actually, I really only took a vacation from cooking, exercise and arguably my better judgement. I positively did not need to have ice cream four times while we were gone but I did. See, a vacation from my better judgement. There’s no use rehashing it. What’s done is done.
Taking a vacation from my good sense comes with a price. Let me pause to say that I don’t feel guilty. In fact, I would probably make those same decisions again providing it’s only once or twice a year. However, my bank account and scales would both verify the actual cost of my vacation.
We made it safely home and the next day I went for my morning walk to get back in my usual routine. As I walked, I was thinking about how different it was to not really be taking a vacation from anything. I didn’t really need rest, I just needed to be somewhere else. I needed some time to have fun with my family sans a few of the responsibilities that live on my shoulders. We can ditch some of those responsibilities for a few days. We can rest from labor. We can even take a break from being the manufactured version of ourselves that we present to most of the world. They are needed breaks.
I couldn’t help but think about how glad I am that God doesn’t take a vacation. Then it occurred to me that what I really am is just grateful. I’ve thought about it all week since returning home. Grateful to have uninterrupted time with my husband and children. Grateful to be able to play with them and love on them. Grateful that we were able to safely find a way to take a vacation and perhaps more grateful to have a home to come back to.
Many of us have spent a lot of time in the last few months focused on what we don’t have, what we can’t do, where we can’t go, what might happen and what we don’t like. I’m as guilty as the next person about getting caught up in that mentality. It’s not helpful. What is helpful is focusing on what we do have and being grateful that we, ahem I, can be shallow enough to complain about something as privileged as vacation.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite Bible verses, Romans 8:18. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Nothing today – bad or good – compares to that. It keeps me grateful.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve God by writing words that might help you. I am grateful to be able to structure a life that works for my family. I am grateful for the ability to keep my life-giving routines in place. I am grateful for the loving, saving and keeping grace of Jesus and that it never takes a vacation.
What about you? What are you grateful for today?
