Vacation. I looks different for everyone. Maybe you’re stretched out on a lounge chair by the pool. Maybe you’re hiking through a national park with your family in a camper. Or maybe you’re cozying up at home for a little staycation. What if every day could be vacation? In this post, I share how with Christ, every day can be a vacation.

It’s just different now. Our kids are grown-up.

I work at home these days, so I set my own schedule which includes all kinds of glorious things like deciding what time I want to wake up and what time I want to show up at my writing desk. (Although, truth be told, it was lots easier when my first period class started at 7:45 a.m., and I better be there in plenty of time to gather my thoughts and prepare for the 35 high schoolers who really didn’t want to be sitting in the classroom, but there they are.)

Today, I wake up with the sun flooding into my east window. No alarm clock; no dog right now to whimper it’s time to go out; no littles scrambling into my bed and chattering, “Can we go swimming today? Can we? Can we?”

Vacation. It’s just different now.

Used to be we’d pile in dad’s car, all seven of us — no seat belts, me sometimes happily tucked on the floor of the back seat or else I had to be squished between my three older brothers. My sister was littlest so she usually sat up front between mom and dad, and we’d make the two-hour drive up to Grandma’s cottage.

• Hot summer sand.
• Sticky s’mores.
• Bonfires.
• Fresh blueberries.
• Weekly library trips and endless reading.

Vacation. It’s just different now. But kind of the same. Family and friends come to us, and they are safely buckled into seat belts. Still, we enjoy.

• Hot summer sand.
• Sticky s’mores.
• Bonfires.
• Fresh blueberries.
• Weekly library trips and endless reading.

Curious, I looked up the root of the word vacation. This isn’t a scholarly approach or anything, but it really got me thinking. Vacare means “to be empty, be free, have leisure.”

Not rocket science. We vacation to rest, to be free of daily responsibilities, to enjoy leisure.

But what if I could really vacation every single day? And if I can, then how do I do this? Is it about emptying myself?

Uh, no.

I don’t believe I can or should try to empty myself to be “better” in any sense of the word. Because then comes the question. Am I empty enough for God to fill me up again? That could lead me into all kinds of scary places with more questions and uncertainty and fear.

No, that’s not how I see it.

How Every Day Can Be Vacation

Vacation. It is all about freedom. In our vocations —  teachers, mothers, pilots, neighbors, husbands, volunteers, business owners, daughters, and all — maybe the freedom is that we step aside from the work momentarily. Put down the work. Lay it aside. No papers to grade. No alarm clocks. Less cooking. More s’mores and swimming pools and books. Vacation as a child of God is kind of the same. It’s a freedom I have when I step aside from the work of it all. Instead of working my way to freedom, I rest in the freedom that is already mine. Freedom in Christ. Grace. God’s riches at Christ’s expense.

So really, when I shift my perspective a bit, every day is a vacation.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31

This post was prompted by the word VACATION at Five Minute Friday link-up  where I join some wonderful Christian writers to encourage each other and share weekly posts.  When you have time, check it out and you’ll find lots of inspiring posts to read on the same topic. Looking for more devotions and reflections on faith? Click here.

I’d love to hear how your vacations have changed since you entered different seasons of your life?

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