As my vacation winds down (thank goodness), I battle with the question, "Was it a good vacation or a bad vacation?" I honestly don't know. The best answer is, "It was a vacation." For that, I'm thankful.
The glass-half-full part of me looks at the fact that I got to spend quality time with my family. I got away from work for a week (except for a few minutes of emails). I got to visit a part of the U.S. where I've never been before, and it was beautiful (see the above photo).
The planner in me, however, has several complaints. The most frustrating of which was the weather. I tried to pack for all of the different seasons that can happen within one week in Michigan, which is really similar to the ever-unpredictable Ohio weather, but I missed the mark.
Yesterday it was 58 degrees out, with a windchill of 54. It rained and rained and then rained some more. The wind blew so hard that the umbrellas were useless. Of course, that was the day we had to take the ferry back to Mackinaw City, so we were drenched, and our luggage was moist and it just felt like we would never be warm or dry again. When we got to our room, we turned on the heat. I should add that the day we took the ferry to the island it also rained, but it was nowhere near as cold out.
I've been so out of touch spiritually this week that these types of situations remind me that I should have been talking to God regularly about my plans instead of going off on my own without Him. It would have made a difference, I believe. All of this reminded me of the passage in James:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
James 4:13-16 ESV
Not to say that it's the equivalent of making a life-changing plan without Him, but still, things just tend to work out better when we involve our Father in our plans. I don't think one single plan has worked out the way I intended it to this week. Everything's fine, but maybe if I had prayed for guidance or wisdom, I would have packed a sweatshirt.
*********
Join me this week in praying for those who are traveling this summer. Pray that people are careful and safe. Pray for patience, kindness, and tolerance. We've all been cooped up for a long time, and sometimes it's easy to let our emotions get the best of us. Please pray for peace and love.
I'll post daily reminders on:
#7thHourPrayerPower #bibleverse #bible #walk #vacation #travel #plans #journey #wisdom #guidance #prayer
