God uses us all the time.
He always desires to work in you and through you.
If you are a minister of Him, you're never "off the clock."
Ministry isn't a "program" that a church puts on.
Ministry is being a servant to Jesus Christ with every moment of your life.
Every plan, every circumstance.
Knowing every conversation is one that God ordained for you to minster to Him and others.
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This was our first annual family vacation.
We set off Monday morning with our destination being Omaha, Nebraska. My husband had planned attractions along our route to break up our trip a little, and to add some site seeing and historical flare (after all, we are a home-educating family so you know there has to be some learning along the way). We stopped at the Spam Museum, Berstein Bear Museum, Clear Lake, and a Botanical Garden.
Not all of these places were "planned" but they ended up happening in such a beautiful way!
The first stop was the Spam Museum which was a little over 1.5 hours into our drive. My kids had never heard of Spam before. We briefly read up on the history of Spam on our way to the Museum.
We had lunch at the Museum (some potato and hamburger hash we made the night before as well as a couple captains of SPAM). Aryeh loved playing with the little pigs. All the Museum workers fell in love with the kids and gave them each a little pig to take home.
Across the street was a little, curious bookstore. We went in and they just happened to have the largest collection of Bernstein Bear items in the world (or so they claim...). We spent a little time browsing through all that and then piled back in the car for some iPad time.
Our next stop was a traditional stop to Cabin Coffee, a small Christian coffee house we accidentally discovered years ago. We got our coffee and Alex went to the car to start making sandwiches for lunch.
While he was crafting sandwiches, my oldest 4 kids and I wandered around the little town and moseyed our way down to Clear Lake. We found a dock and ventured out to listen to the waves.
It was roughly 97 degrees out and VERY HUMID, so naturally the water looked very, VERY inviting. After about 30 minutes Alex found us with Evelyn and Aryeh. We ended up wading in the water (well... the boys stripped down and went all in), exploring the shore, having a picnic, and singing praise songs to God acapella.
It was the sweetest, most intimate time of the whole trip and totally unplanned.
Just in time for nap, we set off. This time we were going to try to make a History Museum in Iowa, but they closed at 5pm and we wouldn't have time. We noticed an interesting building off the highway. Turns out it was a Botanical Garden.
They also closed at 5pm, but we did get to use their bathroom and play around in their outdoor garden for a good 40 minutes before venturing onto the last stretch of our trip to our hotel.
We grabbed some Chipotle, were able to witness to the workers and customers as people are always asking, "How Do You Do It?!?" or saying, "Your kids are so well behaved!!". We always reply with the good news of Jesus Christ and what He's done in our lives!
Our hotel was a two bedroom, two bathroom suite with a kitchen. It had a pool, hot tub, exercise room, continental breakfast, and "light dinner" provided. We built a relationship with a number of people during our stay and were able to give glory to God through our behavior and conversation.
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The very first day of our trip was so refreshing and felt like a week in itself. It wasn't rushed. It was a time of real bonding and laughs. We kept frustration at bay and spent 12 hours getting to our hotel that was only 6 hours away. It was so much worth it!
I went on several family vacations as a child, and Alex none (unless you consider being a refugee a vacation...). Although I recall them being fun, I also recall family vacations being stressful, hurried and exhausting.
The Lord showed us how sweet a family vacation can be when it's led by His Spirit, when it's slow and about enjoying the small things without stressing over the big things.
Even when events occur that could have gotten our eyes and hearts distraught....
Check out what happens next on Friday!
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