Vacation mindset....

Steve and I just spent a week vacationing in the Palm Springs area. We love it there...the heat, the sun, the laying by the pool...everything a good vacation is in our opinion. This is the fourth summer that we have spent a week there. (Thanks to good friends who let us use their timeshares!)

I was thinking about what makes vacation so great, and wondering why life can't always be like it is when we are on vacation. I think I may be on to something!

First of all, I love vacation because of who I am with. I am with the man I married 33 years ago...the one who I still love to be with all of these years later. The great thing about vacation is that we are really with each other...we are, in essence, the us we used to be...the us we were before kids, ministry, etc. For that one week we are a couple without responsibilities and distractions pulling at us. We are free to enjoy just being us.

Secondly, I love vacation because of WHO I am with. You know, the capital letters WHO, as in God. (I put this second, not because HE is second in importance of course.) I know that I am always with HIM and HE is always with me...but on vacation we are together unhurried, unpressured. I wake up, grab my coffee, go to the balcony and spend glorious time with HIM out there in the sun. I journal, I read the Word, I read an inspiring book. (This vacation it was A Leader in the Making by Joyce Meyer) There is something luxurious about starting the day slow, unpressured, just me, my coffee, and time with Jesus.

I think why vacations are so great is that we have a vacation mindset. We are living in the moment...unconcerned about yesterday, unworried about tomorrow. We are enjoying and focusing on only today. We are enjoying and savoring the moment. We are relishing the good things about our relationships. We are living in the mindset that Jesus wants us to always live in...Mathew 6:34...we are not worrying about tomorrow.

I want to have a vacation mindset here and now, not just one or two weeks a year. I want to be able to relax and enjoy my everyday life, just like I savor and enjoy each day when I am on vacation. I want to be able to accomplish what needs to be accomplished each day, while I stay rested and relaxed in my spirit. In my relationships with God, my husband, my family, friends and church family I want to stay focused on the good things. I want my relationships to be undistracted, unhindered by yesterday's issues or tomorrow's fears. I want to live in and enjoy this moment, today, here and now without wasting time today fretting over yesterday or worrying about tomorrow.