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5 ways to have a purposeful vacation

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1

We’ve ended our summer with a vacation this week. It’s been a glorious gift from the Lord.

Here are 5 ways to get the most out of a vacation.

1. Find its focus
It’s all about the water here.
Colorado River_Lake Mead Or its lack thereof. Bryce CanyonThe desert moves and breathes by water. Shouldn’t we?JT in waterBut whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
John 4:14

2. Document your journey
The Indians near Holbrook, Arizona, wrote on these stones around 1000-1300 A.D., leaving a legacy for us to learn from. Petroglyphs

Take pictures and write words of your journey, too, so you will remember and so future generations can learn from it.at Bryce CanyonMeteor Crater3. Adore God everywhere you go
…for His awesomeness:
Grand Canyon 3 at the GC…for His creativity:bison…for His sustenance:evergreen at Bryce Canyon4. Manage your resources wisely
Invest more in who you’re with than where you go. Spend laughter generously. Be stingy with complaints. Dole out energy appropriately. Keep your batteries recharged. And keep all females amply watered and fed.  
Bearizonacreek near Sedonabison mom and baby5. Let your vacation change you
Too bad Satan doesn’t take a vacation when you do. Cactus in Sedona Your enemies travel with you: selfishness, insecurities, grouchiness, laziness.
And fear.too high at Bryce on the plane JT at BryceBut God travels higher and deeper than Satan ever can. Let Him use the change of scenery to give you a change of spirit. I’ll be more appreciative now of flat land, green grass, tall trees, and shade.

And of a God who can gift us with mini-vacations or large vacations or anything in between to show us how great He is!

* * *

Read a great article here by C. J. Mahaney on Leading Family Vacations (although I’d go a little easier on the dads.)

16 comments:

Kari said...

looks like you all had a wonderful time. i really like the Grand Canyon. it just amazed me, and then the Hoover dam too.
lovely photos and inspiring words.

LivingforGod said...

Great vacation tips! Beautiful pictures! I really enjoyed reading your post today. I'd love to visit the Grand Canyon someday.

I'm so glad that God does not take a vacation :).

Dianna said...

Awww Lisa...I'm so glad that you and your sweet family had opportunity to get away for a while before summer is over. Your pictures are AWESOME! But mostly it was a blessing to see how much fun YOU were having. I know that the path you are walking with your mom right now has a way of draining us of energy.

Melli said...

Oh, I just LOVE how you shared your vacation AND His Word at the same time! THIS Five was blessed! Thank you!

Karyn said...

Gorgeous photos that bring back memories of a wonderful vacation of ours as well. I love how you shared the word, relevant to your photos (or was it the other way around?). At any rate, I feel blessed after reading your post!

Brenda said...

Colorado is a beautiful place to visit, we took a vacation there this year as well. You have a good perspective on vacations as well.

TXDidi said...

Looks like you had a great vacation. Such lovely scenery but even without the beautiful scenes, just spending time with family is priceless. Have a restful week getting back into the swing of things.

Lynn Severance said...

What wonderful memories you and your family will have to treasure for years to come when you think of this summer's vacation time together.

Photo journaling is a key to capture the scenes in the moment and the feelings and/or messages evident there if we have eyes to see and hear the Spirit within whispering the "more".

Love this posting, Lisa. Thank you!

Lisa Spence said...

I want to go to the Grand Canyon!

Susannah said...

Wonderful, excellent points! I love all five... and your photos take me back to similar trip we took a few years ago w/ our family. I love Bryce Canyon especially!

Blessings, e-Mom ღ

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

Oh, this was just GREAT! We took a a similar trip several years ago and it was the best -- the boys still talk about it.(We missed Bearizona, though -- will have to check that out next time.)

I loved your #4. Hope you're all rested and recharged. Take care!

momma24 said...

What great pictures! Looks like you had a great time.

Debbie Petras said...

Oh Lisa, I recognize all of the places you visited. I hope you've enjoyed Arizona! I love it here except for the summer heat, even though it is dry. It's still very hot. You should try to come back some time in February. I think that's the best month of the year in Phoenix.

Love and blessings,
Debbie

Susanne said...

What a wonderful post and very timely as we'll be going on a little get away soon. Love your pictures. The Grand Canyon is on my bucket list of places to visit in my lifetime. That is totally my kind of holiday.

Jaeyde said...

that's some great vacation advice! I wish I took it more often, but I'm getting better...

(visiting from FFF via Linky)

Susan said...

Loved this - yes, we must have taken basically the same vacation this year - Hoover Dam, Meteor Crater, Sedona, Grand Canyon - wonderful, all of it!

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