Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Vacations

Have you ever felt too stressed to go on vacation?

That's how I felt a little over a week ago. We were frantically trying to cover our responsibilities while we would be gone, thinking about where we would go, and making plans for everything we would have waiting for us when we got back home. Plus we still had to pack!

"Maybe we should just stay home and do it some other time," I suggested to my hubby.

He reassured me that it would all work out fine and we continued packing and planning.

When we left on a Wednesday morning, we were a bit tense as we tried to get ahead of some bad weather (and went back home for something I forgot).

As each day passed, we felt more and more free. Putting miles between ourselves and our daily routines was good for us. 

We marveled at the beautiful fall colors along the way.

The foliage was beautiful throughout our trip!

We got out and explored new places.

We talked about things we didn't have time to discuss at home.

We laughed as a bald eagle came incredibly close to depositing the carcass of some dead animal on our windshield (it dropped in front of the car instead). 

I'm glad we didn't put this vacation off.

I could really feel a difference in how relaxed I was, so I've been pondering how to experience that even in the midst of my regular schedule back at home.

It takes effort, I think. 

If we're not careful, the cares and concerns of life can pile up in our hearts and minds, leaving us with way too much stress.

Making a conscious decision to let that worry and stress go can help us feel better even when we can't physically get away.

It's hard, especially for some of us that are prone to think too much and ruminate on negative things.

Maybe we need to take mini-vacations when the stress starts to get to us. 

Get out the photo albums (or go to your computer) and look through pictures of past vacations and relive some of those relaxing moments. 

Make a list of things you can do for 10 or 15 minutes that might bring you a little joy before you get back to your responsibilities (paint a picture, read, play an instrument, take a bath, call a friend). Post the list somewhere handy and go to it when life gets to be too much.

Sit in a comfortable place and talk to God for a few minutes when you feel lots of worry or stress. After you talk, take some time to listen. God may give you some ideas that will help you feel better.

And when you can, take an actual vacation. It's worth the stress of planning and packing when you get to your destination and feel the wonder and joy of new (or familiar) places.

I'll end with just a sampling of the places and things we've seen so far on this vacation: 

The path to Bar Island at low tide (Bar Harbor, Maine)

Later in the day...what path to Bar Island?

Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick, Canada)

 

Sunset at Peggy's Cove (Near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)

Moose along Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Cavendish Cliffs on Prince Edward Island

 We're heading toward home tomorrow, but we still have a few more days to enjoy this vacation. I plan to make the most of it. Who knows what we'll see?

 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28 NIV)

Do you take time for vacations? How can focusing on God help you to let go of your worries and concerns, even when you can't actually get away?

Sorry Saturday: Let's Focus on Faulty Memories

I was looking forward to visiting Zion National Park during this two-week vacation. I remembered impressive, huge black rocks with a checkerboard pattern when we entered the park. I couldn't wait to see them again and show them to Allison and Dylan.

Imagine my surprise when we got there and saw....this:

Impressive, to be sure, but definitely not black rock. My brain fought with my eyes all the way down the entrance road to the park. 

Still not black.

Eventually my eyes won and I conceded that I must have remembered wrong, but it really took a while. 

OK, I'll give up and just enjoy them!

It got me thinking about memories and I wondered how many other things I remembered one way in my mind, but it was actually different in reality.

Especially as I get older, I can't trust my memory as much. I have to write things down and put notes where I'll be sure to see them.

I guess that's why we take pictures and why some people like to journal. It gives us something to look back on and remember accurately instead of trusting things to our sometimes flawed memories.

Maybe the memories we have about something are darker than they actually were, like my "black" rocks at Zion. If we only have bad memories about something or someone, maybe we need God's help to remember more accurately or at least find the brightness that could be there. 

He may help you see the beauty in a painful time. Keep going to Him with your difficult memories. He is God and He loves you. The Bible promises that you can trust Him, over and over again. 

Never forget that, even if you forget everything else. 

I have to throw this picture of Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona in here.
Some mom's dark memory is going to be how she almost lost a son in July, 2017. 

"Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me." (Isaiah 46:9 NIV)

We saw this beautiful rainbow near Durango, Colorado today. Breathtaking beauty in a dark sky.

The rainbow filled the whole sky (hard to capture from the front seat through a spotty windshield).

Do you find that some of your memories are inaccurate? How can focusing on God help you to remember well and find the beauty even in painful memories?

Sorry Saturday: Let's Focus on The Big Picture

My family and I are five days into a two-week vacation. (Erin and Blake opted out, but Allison and Dylan joined us for this adventure.)

We've seen Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills in South Dakota, Yellowstone in Wyoming, Glacier in Montana, Seattle in Washington, and Crater Lake in Oregon...so far.

We can't wait to drive down the coast of California tomorrow and later show the kids more beautiful national parks and introduce them to the Grand Canyon.

I got an idea for this week's blog while we were on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park on Wednesday. It was glorious. We looked out across mountains and the deep valley below as we drove higher and higher: 

We saw waterfalls all over the place and enjoyed the view. I noticed the pretty wildflowers as we drove, too. Yellow, purple, white...and red. I saw little groups of red flowers and decided I wanted to get a good picture of them along the rock wall beside us. After we turned around to come back through the park, I couldn't stop looking beside the road for the perfect place to take a picture. Whenever there was a group of flowers, there wasn't a good place to stop.

I told Gary about it and his response was: "What red flowers?" (To be fair, his eyes were on the road ahead of us most of the time so we didn't go careening over the edge. I'm so glad!)

After I pointed them out, he noticed them, too, but we couldn't find a good place to stop. I almost gave up, but toward the end of the drive we saw a few along the road and he found a place to pull off. I walked back to take a couple of pictures. There weren't many flowers, but they were kind of pretty:

Then I looked up and knew I had to take my photo from a different angle:

As I jogged back to the car and we continued on our way, I pondered that situation many times. I realized that I had become so consumed with a good shot of those little flowers that I had missed looking at the big picture and the beauty of the mountains and the valley right in front of me (and above me, and below me).

I love details, and it's not bad that I saw the flowers, but I had to remember to keep the big picture in mind as well. The picture of the flowers with the mountains behind it was so much nicer than the picture of just the flowers.

How often don't I do the same thing in life?

I get bogged down in the details, especially the negative ones, and I forget to see the Big Picture.

I see the little bulge of flesh around my waist and I get discouraged about that instead of thanking God for my healthy body that gets me around and allows me to see all of these wonderful places and serve God in many different ways.

I notice something in one of my kids that I think should be different and I stress about that instead of thanking God for healthy, capable children. I know God will lead them in the ways He has for them, so I can just pray and enjoy watching Him work as I love each of them.

I bristle at something my husband says in a stressful moment and I rehearse it in my mind way too many times instead of letting it go and remembering all of the kind and loving words he has said in our twenty-seven years of marriage.

I have a bad day and I choose to complain to God and whine about my situation instead of remembering that He has good plans for me and things will work out in the end. The good far outweighs the bad, especially when we have our hearts tuned to look for the little blessings God sends our way every day.

Details are important and they make life beautiful and interesting, but we can never forget the Big Picture.

Gary, Dylan, and Allison at Glacier. They're part of the Big Picture!

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." (Isaiah 26:3 NIV)

Do you sometimes get so bogged down in the details that you fail to see the Big Picture? How can focusing on God help you to keep both in balance?