Need A Vacation Dad?

Vacation

|vāˈkāSHən, və-| noun
1 an extended period of recreation, esp. one spent away from home or in traveling. This nut finally took a vacation away from everything!

As I sit here on the top of the crow’s nest on the last full day of my vacation and listening to Seeds Family Worship, I feel relaxed. A feeling that has escaped my body over the last months.

Watching the sun rise as the moon sets.

Watching the sun rise as the moon sets.

Like most dads, I tend to burn a candle at both ends in an attempt to keep things going for the family. This includes being husband and dad, an engineer with the government (no shutdown this year!), being a children’s pastor, and blogger. But for the past week the only job I have had was to relax and be the husband to a wonderful wife and dad to the three best kids any man could ask for.

When was the last time that you took a vacation dad? When was the last time that you took the opportunity to leave everything behind you, even for a day, and just relax? I know what you are thinking :

“Relax?? Are you crazy? If I go somewhere, I am the driver there, the tent maker, the canoe paddler, fire maker, wood chopper, kid watcher and chief bottle washer! Where does relax come in at in the word vacation???”

That used to be me. I would as the same thing any time that someone would mention vacation. But I have learned something. I have learned that you find joy in those things while you are on vacation. Yeah, your going to have to keep being dad and husband, even on vacation, but find joy in what you do dad.

What helped me this year is that I have left my engineering job at work this year. I have found peace at letting others step in and help me in the ministry that I head up at my church. This is another blog post that I will do later on, but men find you other guys that you can completely lean on when you need help! I have even put the blog down for a week and just relaxed. I have tried to read some books, but fall asleep every time that I sit down. My wife has told me over and over that “You body was just to tired!” Today, I am accepting that answer and I will let her drive the 8 hours home while I read! (If you believe that will happen, I got a great bridge to Hawaii I will sell you.) Dads, there comes a time when we just have to leave everything else behind and find time and joy with our family. So much of the time that we spend with our family is stressful as we try to balance everything at once. We need to get away and find the important things in life. Time with God and our family.

That last sentence is what we should do no matter where we are. But many times in our life as a dad, we get overrun by the world and we loose sight of what is important. Dads I am challenging you to take a vacation! I know that things are tight and tough. Trust me, I know! But this weekend, take a 2 day vacation to go camping, go fishing, get a hotel room somewhere, just get away from the house and the rush of your normal life. Take time to get back with God in His word and time to be with your family. It will do wonders for your life and the lives of those around you!

Till next time..
I’m just a Husband of a Homeschooling Mom,
Steve Blackston

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