Vacation

Dad writes:

We recently took a vacation to Florida and a reflection on our journey there and back seemed in order. As many know we desperately needed a vacation (I don’t think this is an overstatement).  We hadn’t had a vacation without other responsibilities in nearly a year with our transition to New Hampshire.  The intensity of the work here at His Mansion and the fatigue from transition had worn us pretty thin emotionally more than anything else and a bit physically too. 

I want to write from two perspectives, first my family’s then my own.  

My family enjoyed our three days in Disney but it wasn’t as exciting and pleasurable as our first experience 15 months prior.  Our children find the creativity of Disney fun but passive entertainment is only OK, and they avoid thrill rides!  Sea World passes obtained by the our dear friends the Petersons for us were great except that it was cool and it rained in the afternoon pretty hard.  The Lion King and Nemo presentations were spectacular and the killer whale and dolphin shows were awesome.  We each had different favorite shows.  

The highlight of the trip was seeing people.  Our friends the Petersons in Orlando treat us like family, and they are truly a sanctuary family for us.  Dawson’s highlight was catching a 14.5 inch bass out the pond behind the Peterson home.  Then, a kind and generous His Mansion supporter offered his cabin for 4 days which was a blessing for our family to be on its own for a few days.  The downside is that it got down to 29 degrees at night, and Florida homes aren’t built to handle the cold. We canoed at the cabin but couldn’t stay out long because of the cold (had to keep rowing).  We did share meals, played games, read together and watched a few movies together.  That was quality family time- all bundled up with everything we brought (mostly summer clothes). To wind up our trip we visited the Gervais’ a family in Palm Bay. They are actively involved at His Mansion, the husband serves on the board and teaches 3 times a year in New Hampshire.  The Gervais’ received us warmly, and it was great to get to know them in their home and hometown.  Overall, my family enjoyed the break from Mansion life, and we shared some good times despite the inclement weather.  

From my point of view, I learned a lot from our vacation but did not find it as refreshing and renewing as I had hoped.  Florida has its own culture, and since tourism is not our first love but people are, we found ourselves learning about and adjusting to the culture, which is interesting but not necessarily relaxing.

Florida has a unique climate and geography that affect how people live and work (sulfuric water, sand, thunderstorms, etc.) Cultural diversity is significant with full-time residents and with people vacationing or owning second homes from every corner of the world and the U.S.  Faith diversity is also significant with a wide variety of Christian subcultures along with many Muslims.  These are but a few things we learned. Because we sense that we will return to Florida in the future, we wanted to understand the culture so that we can develop relationships that might grow in the future.  

I felt blest by the time with our children, because I had time to observe their personalities and preferences and discovered some ways that I can grow as a dad to them.  I wouldn’t give that up, but my wife and I had very little time to connect for ourselves which made the vacation quite tiring at times.  My wife and I are the type of couple that work together in an interwoven pattern and as a result we need a little more time to do the weaving or else miscommunication results.  We have purposed since returning to New Hampshire to set aside more time for nurturing our relationship so that we have more to give to our children, work, and community. 

All in all, I believe we received what God had planned for us.  We learned some valuable lessons for living life in community.  Refreshment was a bit lacking so we are seeking it here in the midst of tumultuous changes, and you know what? God is more than able if we trust Him.  Thanks for reading.