Hear me out, y’all.
A family vacation sounds the exact opposite of simple summer fun. The planning, the packing, the paying. Also, the laundry. How often have you returned home (All. The. Laundry.) and wearily wished you could have a vacation to recover from your vacation?
Me, too.
Pictures are popping up in my Facebook memories this week of our family road trip last summer. Jeff, Abby Kate, Lily and I drove from our home in Alabama to the Grand Canyon, exploring more than 3,500 miles over seven states. It was an incredible nine days together and we are ready without doubt or hesitation ready to get on the road again.
Not everyone has the time or money to indulge an extended, expensive trip. I know because growing up, my family didn’t. I was 9-years-old when we took our first family vacation. We traveled to Chattahoochee, Florida to see my Aunt Betty and her family. I also recall family trips to Gatlinburg, TN and Panama City Beach, FL. But there was one vacation we played on repeat: an Atlanta Braves baseball game and overnight stay in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I have faded photographs of hiking and pedal boats, my brothers and I squinting our eyes at the sun in the southern summer heat.
Travel, however near or far, is something a lot of us take for granted. We learned just how much when COVID restricted and even cancelled our vacation plans. Several of my friends are just now taking trips they intended in 2020. For all the curses we have uttered at COVID I can recognize one gift, and that is the ways the pandemic re-introduced the value of home.
COVID pushed me to be creative within my family’s four walls. I was inspired one evening to plan a camp-themed movie night. We made s’mores and hot dogs in our oven, played tic-tac-toe with sticks and rocks from our yard, and watched the original Parent Trap movie starring Haley Mills. Abby Kate and Lily loved it! The evening allowed me to share a fun memory about the summer my cousin Donna and I watched The Parent Trap on VHS (“What’s a VHS tape, Mom?”) so many times we memorized the entire movie. My brothers were annoyed enough that they hid the tape!
Maybe you’re parked at home because of a crowded schedule or creeping gas prices. In what small ways can you make memories? Your family doesn’t have to travel far to enjoy intentional, uninterrupted time together. We see God’s goodness reflected in the people we love, not just the places we visit. The trip you take could be as close as your living room, your vacation a break from the real world of email or virtual world of video games. The goal, regardless of destination, is simple summer fun.
As you consider what’s left of your summer, here is my encouragement to you:
- There is remarkable fulfillment to hear my girls say “I’ve been there!” when they hear mention of faraway places. Once in a lifetime travel is a gift. If you can, go.
- Trips that turn into tradition are special, too. They forge a family bond that is uniquely yours and will hold belonging and nostalgia in ways you may not see right now.
- Don’t dismiss the small moments you create at home. A staycation may be exactly what you need to see God’s goodness in your everyday life.
The Bible tells time and again the significance held in little things: lilies (Matthew 6), sparrows (Matthew 10), a mustard seed (Matthew 13). Coincidentally, those same things can lead you into simple summer fun.
“Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow; they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that note even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!” (Matthew 6: 28)
“Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.” (Matthew 10:29)
“It’s the smallest of all seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:32)
