5 ways to manage your summer expectations for vacation and rest
By / Jul 13

The hot summer sun and end of the school year makes everyone look forward to vacation. Finally, a time to rest, relax, and unwind after a crazy year. But for those of us traveling to see relatives, or heading to the beach on a vacation with extended family, rest and relaxation can be elusive. My friend, Brittany, a mom of two boys ages 2 and under, just posted a picture of her family at the beach with the caption, “’I feel so refreshed after my beach vacation with my young kids!’ said no one ever.” 

I remember those days of chasing my toddlers by the water, trying to keep them from ingesting a shovel full of sand. Depending on the ages of our kids, and the sheer number of other family members involved, vacations aren’t usually the oasis of calm we hope them to be. 

A few years ago our family joined my in-laws and sister-in-law’s family for a Christmas/retirement celebration in California. What better place to enjoy a break from our crazy schedule than in warm and sunny San Diego? We had hardly arrived before we realized there was trouble in paradise. My sister-in-law’s family was battling the stomach flu with three young kids. Add to the mix our four kids and sharing bathrooms, and you can imagine the result. 

My generous in-laws, who made the trip possible, were looking forward to non-stop family time together—family dinners, family bike rides, family games. They even thoughtfully volunteered to watch the grandkids one night so the parents could have a dinner out without cutting up someone else’s meat. But my husband and I were hoping for a little more space, and some time for our family to be able to explore the city without the entire crew of 13. 

All of us had expectations of what this trip should look like. The problem was, none of us communicated our expectations to each other. As I look back, I realize how much frustration could have been avoided if I had checked my own heart and been willing to communicate more openly. 

Here are a few simple things I’ve learned to help navigate expectations with summer vacations.

1. Be honest. Talk openly and honestly with other family members about your vacation hopes. So often each of us has an ideal vacation plan that we never fully communicate with anyone else. When our expectations are dashed, we can feel disappointed or embittered. Long before you’re all piling into the rental house with suitcase in hand, talk about how much time you’ll spend together. Can there be certain meals with the whole extended family and other meals on your own? Will there be a rotation of cooks to ensure the same people aren’t always in the kitchen? Talk about how much whole group time you’ll have together versus time as individual families. The more things you work out beforehand, the smoother things will go. 

2. Be flexible. Flexibility is defined as bending easily without breaking. The only constant in our life is God. Everything else will change. How can you be flexible with your hopes and expectations for vacation? How can you bend to accommodate your in-law’s menu preference, or the naptime schedule of your niece? We all come with a set of plans in mind, but hold them loosely, and remember the relationship is more important than the ideal plan. 

3. Be a peacemaker. When we enter a vacation holding our expectations loosely, it will help us to maintain peace. When we’re willing to give up our ideal plan of a quiet afternoon by the pool (without complaining) for your father-in-law’s plan of a family boating expedition, we are sacrificing for the good of someone else. We’re following the pattern of Christ, the ultimate peacemaker. “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:13-14). 

4. Be loving (respectful, sacrificial, considerate). We can love those we are with by accommodating their preferences with joy. This may mean you are eating Aunt Milly’s famous chili (again) when you’d rather have grilled fish. But we look for ways to lay down our rights in order to bridge the gap with the other person. We take the apostle Paul’s advice in Philippians 2:3-4, that we, “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but to the interests of others.” We’re following the way of Christ. 

5. Be servant-minded. Vacation conjures up pictures in my mind of laying in poolside chairs with food that’s magically prepared and delivered. But few of our family vacations actually look like this. Most of us still need to cook, keep an eye on children, and even do laundry. It would do us good to prepare our hearts to serve during vacation. Think of Jesus’ words and example, the perfect King who came to serve, not to be served  (Matt. 20:28). How can you practically love and serve those you are with? Can you unload the dishwasher in the morning? Make coffee for the group? Offer to keep an eye on a new mom’s baby so she can take a nap? Sometimes we forget that joy comes through serving. Ask God to help you keep a tender heart to those you are with, and for grace to serve them with love. 

Family vacations have the potential to be one of the best, most memorable times of the year. But they also have the potential to create division over petty squabbles and unmet expectations. As you load your minivan this summer, keep in mind that our call to love and serve applies during vacation as well. Christians are not exempt from loving and serving their family just because we’re on a special getaway. Hold your plans with an open hand, and ask God to give you unexpected joy and grace as you make lasting memories with those you love.

A divine hush in the holiday rush
By / Dec 4

A few weeks ago, we made a quick trip to the mountains, just long enough to gaze at a breathtaking blanket of stars, breathe deeply of the crisp air, and soak in the mountains’ silence.

I wanted to bottle it all up and bring it back home for the weeks ahead.

But we returned to a slew of festive invitations and scheduling logistics. I felt myself sucking air as I looked at an already busy schedule.

And it’s just the beginning of December.

How ironic that our calendars should hemorrhage with activity during what should be one of the most peaceful seasons of the year—a sacred time to remember and reflect, to give thanks, to honor him who came to quiet the frenzy of our lives. In the book of Luke, Zechariah says Christ came “to guide our feet into the way of peace.” But would we be able to recognize that peace even if it stared us in the face?

Contrary to popular opinion, we’re not victims of the holiday season. We choose to say yes to three holiday feasts, twelve Christmas parties, five concerts, one more dinner engagement, and superfluous gift-giving. Much of it is really good, important stuff. It’s friends and family and festivity. It’s community and commitment. But is it possible that some of this good stuff is cheating us of the best?

Imagine how absurd it would be for a child on Christmas morning to fixate on the wrapping paper and dismiss the gifts inside. Yet look how easily we get wrapped up in the whirlwind of festivities and miss Jesus.

All through Scripture, we see that what God really wants from us is our hearts, our love, our trust. Not our seismic insanity.

Maybe it’s too late to fix the frenzy this year—but one way or another, we can still make time this holiday season to hush our hearts in the presence of the Prince of Peace. To rest both body and soul.

This will look drastically different for each of us, as we find ourselves in a variety of circumstances and seasons, but let me give you a few simple ideas for slowing things down:

  • Reserve a few evenings on your calendar for staying in and resting. (And don’t apologize for doing it.)
  • Make one less holiday dish, simplify your decorations, or buy fewer Christmas gifts—and spend that saved time lighting a few candles, drinking hot chocolate and watching this video.
  • Turn off all screens (laptop, phone, etc.) an hour or two before bed—and read or journal.
  • And for you moms with little ones, consider the example of Susanna Wesley, the mother of famed Charles and John Wesley: She taught her 10 children that when her apron was over her head, she was praying and they were not to disturb her.

Friends, we are not at the mercy of our circumstances. We can set the stage for deeper communion with God. In the busiest times of life, it's tempting to either neglect the Word or treat it as another checkbox on our never-ending to-do list. Slowing everything down and quieting our calendars is a good first step in experiencing and enjoying Jesus again. Once our minds and bodies are in a restful state, we can often hear him better.

“Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind” (Ecc. 4:6).

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:15).

Do you remember the story of the woman who broke her precious jar of perfume and anointed Jesus’ head? The disciples “were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.’” Who could argue with that kind of efficient, generous, ministry-minded reasoning? But Jesus commended her, saying, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

For me (and I’m guessing for you too), time is as precious and valuable a commodity as what was in that jar. This daily treasure of 24 hours can so quickly be spilled out on nonstop needs, festive events and people’s expectations. But as we prayerfully consider our calendar, and learn to make room for resting in Christ, we might once again experience the beauty of this holiday season and hear him say to us,

“You have done a beautiful thing to me.”