Family Vacations- Not for the Faint of Heart

Written June 17th… just a little late posting…

Family vacations are not for the faint of heart.  I mean there are always challenges along the way when a whole group of people… especially six people… plan to spend 24 hours a day for seven days together.  I’ve learned over the years that in my mind I build vacation up to the equivalent of heaven and then I am often disappointed when reality creeps in.  So after 17 years of marriage and five children, I have learned to buffer my expectations and plan on choosing a good attitude when things don’t go my way.  But this time.  I can’t even.  “Can’t even what?” you ask. A whole lot of things. And they all start with I can’t even.

And no.  I’m not talking about my wonderful, sweet family.  Just some crazy circumstances.

Let me back up a bit.  One of my goals this summer is to try to teach the kiddos more scripture memory verses. When I think about how little they’ve actually committed to memory and how we’re halfway to 16 for my twins, I almost panic.  So on our travels I picked a verse that has a really cool song by Seeds Family Worship. It is Matthew 6:20-21 and it says... “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  So we listened to it part of the time yesterday while we drove from Hilton Head down to Jacksonville stopping along the way to explore little towns and beaches that we have not seen before. A catchy tune. Powerful weighty words. Sinking deep into hearts both little and big.  

The first part of our trip was a little bit of an adventure because it was planned at the last minute and well, we didn’t really make a plan… except that we were going to book places as we traveled until we reached Saint Augustine.  We have had a hotel booked there for a few days since the first week of March. It’s a relatively new hotel with free breakfast and we booked early enough to get an ocean side room with a balcony. And we’ve all been looking forward to it since then! We had a pretty glorious first couple of days and today was pretty perfect as well. We couldn’t check in until 4 PM so we went to Castillo San Marcos to explore and then wandered the streets of Saint Augustine’s historic downtown.

Then we finally went to the hotel to check in. I know I’m being dramatic. I feel like I need a drum roll in here or something, but when Cameron came to the car to tell me that something was wrong with our reservations, I just had that horrible sinking feeling. The lady at the front desk checked her confirmation number and the email that was sent to us. She called the number for Hotels-for-Everyone.com that was in the email. And then we tried the three subsequent numbers on the website.  As it turns out they billed our credit card, booked our reservation at the hotel, and then a few weeks ago they canceled our reservation without telling us and kept the money. So on a practical note if you’re reading this please let your friends and family know not to trust everything you see on Trivago or Kayak to book anything! Now of course our credit card company refunded us the money because they’re a good company.  So that’s good news. Unfortunately, the place that we had booked so many months before did not have any rooms available.  

We were all shocked and disappointed. And stuck with a problem- a really big problem. I had a car full of kids who thought we were going to be at the beach that evening.  And I couldn’t help but think about that scripture that we were listening to. It suddenly became so real and alive to me. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where thieves cannot break in and steal! This was a question of my heart. Where was my heart? And do I really want it to be down here where this kind of thing can happen?  Just yesterday when we were driving around I told Cameron that I have had a series of injustices in the past six months- mostly minor but a few bigger ones- and I felt like it was a bit of a test. Maybe a test to see if I would throw a tantrum like my kiddos or maintain my peace in the midst of a storm.  And then this!  Well there it is. My first- “I can’t even!”

I’m not sure if I passed. I alternated between fighting back tears and laughing hysterically at the absurdity of the situation.  So we spent the next few hours driving down A1A pulling into places that looked decent and asking if they had anything with an oceanfront view as well as searching various websites and apps as fast as we could. Finally I found a place on Google Maps that we hadn’t passed yet and when I called they had one room with a partial Oceanview left. We took it!  So it’s 9:00 at night the kids are finally swimming in the indoor pool because my husband is amazing and decided the night should end with a party (including a late night McDonald's run). 

And us learning that verse this week just can’t be an accident. So I think I’m gonna spend some time this week at the beach reflecting on how I can be more intentional about storing up treasures in heaven. Because I know for sure that is where I want my heart to be!

... The next morning alone on my porch watching the ocean… (that is so far away that although I can see it, I can’t hear it)

All that stuff that I knew in my head yesterday- it’s true. But even if I try to choose the right thing I cannot manufacture peace. Sitting here listening to this song I feel the Holy Spirit pushing on the parts of my heart that so need cleaning up. And feel myself saying yes to surrender… yes to letting go of control for the one millionth time.  And saying yes to trust.  Awaiting His love. Peace floods in.  And I know this will be a good vacation.  Regardless.

P.S.  It was a great vacation!  Adventure and all!