Last week, Miranda, Caden and I traveled to Florida for our first family vacation. It’s the first time I’ve been away on vacation in 3 years. Originally I was schedule to be in Honduras last week on a mission trip, but the great elders I work for thought it would do me some good to get away with my family instead. Boy were they right! I took nothing work related with me and spent the entire week “away” from all the things I have going on in my life right now. Quite frankly, it’s was an amazing week for me.

While away, I had time to relax and think about a lot of different things. I had an opportunity to reflect on my relationship with God as well as my relationship with my family. Today, I would like to share with you a few things I realized while taking time away last week.

Everyone needs to rest at some point. It can be easy to constantly be on the go and never take time to stop and refresh. However, rest is an important part of our lives. Think about all the times Jesus went away to be alone and rest, not to mention God rested after creating the world in six days. If the creator of the universe and His son took time to get away and rest, what makes us think we can go, go, go without ever resting?

Rest improves one’s relationship with God. By taking time to stop from the everyday routine of life, I was able to spend more time in the reading of God’s Word and prayer. I had plenty of opportunities to reflect on my spiritual well-being. When one takes time to do these things, one’s relationship with God can’t help but improve.

Time spent with family is time well spent. I can’t begin to put into words the pure joy I felt being able to spend every waking moment with my wife and son. I wasn’t away when Caden was awake during the day. I didn’t have to tell Miranda that I would do something with her when I finished whatever I was working on. Every moment of my time last week was spent with my two favorite people in the whole world. No doubt, it was time well spent.

Time away helps increase productivity. Who knew that taking time away to rest could actually help me to be more productive? Now that I’m back in the office, I’m looking forward to VBS, Make Me A Servant Week, Horizons, Camp, etc. Planning for these events is exciting again because I’m so refreshed. My time away has helped my productivity.

I will make it a point to take time “completely” away more often. After seeing and feeling the benefits that accompanied my time away, I will definitely make it a point to get away more often. When I say get away, I don’t mean just work from home. No, I plan to get completely away and not think or do anything work related. Hopefully, my wife and son will be enough motivation for me to do this more often in the future. Rest truly is a good thing.

Words cannot express my sincere gratitude to the elders of the Karns congregation and to all the parents who persuaded me to get away. It was truly a blessing for me and my family. Now…let’s get ready for the rest of the summer!

Now that’s Something to Think About!