Getting the Most from Your Vacation
by
Dallas M. Roark
I CONFESS that vacations or long trips have always left me high and dry spiritually. There is the pressure to arrive on time or to cover, a certain number of miles each day. All this hurry leaves little time for devotional life.
But things are different now for us Before leaving our driveway, we stop and seek God's blessings on our trip. We have learned that a vacation without God is empty, so we commit our home, our trip, and our lives to his safekeeping. And we also remember to stop and give thanks upon our safe return.
Once under way, we try to keep daily devotions. We do not pack our Bible with the luggage, but keep it handy. It is as accessible as the flashlight, checkbook, and candy. When we stop for the night, the Bible goes with us into the motel. Usually we have morning devotions in the privacy of the motel, but if we arise late my wife leads us in worship as I drive. Then we stop along the road for prayer together.
We always have fun on vacation trips sharpening spiritual wits. Last year we started to memorize passages from Romans. We began with the fifth chapter and learned it at home. One afternoon we were out riding and decided to work on the next chapter (in this case, the eighth) . We discovered it was fun to look at the scenery and lodge verses of Scripture in our memory. We committed to memory about ten verses that afternoon.
Later, on a week's vacation, we learned the rest of the eighth chapter of Romans. It was a thrill as we chanted in unison the closing verses; "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels... nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." These great words so thrilled our souls that we just naturally pronounced a firm "amen" when we had finished them.
Of course the oneness these words bring to our hearts makes a vacation together exceed anything we could imagine.
Fun with the Bible
Often when we are driving late at night and grow tired, we use another game, Bible twenty questions. Using the Bible as the source, one of us will pick a person, place, or thing in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. Others try to guess it in twenty questions.
General questions are asked first, such as, "Is it in the Old or New Testament? In the Gospels? Is it connected with Jesus?" Then more specific questions come: Was it the boat Jesus stood in to preach? Was it Paul's boat on which he was shipwrecked?"
I usually have to resort to some obscure character like Ezekiel's father (Buzi) in order to beat my wife at this game, but our knowledge of the Bible is developed and the concentration keeps us awake while driving at night.
One of the harder games we play is book quotations. We begin with Genesis and try to quote a verse from each book as we go through the Bible. There are well-known and beloved verses which stand out in each book. These are our mainstays. But going through the Bible the second time without repeating averse sure tests your memory.
A recent game we started is called "Blepo." (This is a Greek word meaning I see) It makes us aware of churches. When we pass a church the first one to see it says, "Blepo!" We keep a score on this as on the other games.
When we see a Baptist church we say "Blepo!" twice, and the person seeing the church first gets two points instead of one. This game makes us aware of our fellow Baptists everywhere.
This game can be used with youngsters to teach what the different churches believe and how they differ from Baptists.
A vacation trip often presents a vast panorama of scenery. We have tried to be sensitive to the beauty of nature. We look upon the world as an expression of the handiwork of God.
The wonder of an orange tree in Florida, the fragrance of a Georgia peach blossom, the weirdness of steaming water flowing to the surface of the ground alongside an ice-cold lake in Yellows tone National Park, the erosion of the Bad Lands, the fresh corn sprouts of Iowa, the dense green forests of the Smoky Mountains-all were made by our Lord. These beauties are a mere reflection of the wonders we behold in him.
Learning About Creation
There is no better time than a vacation trip to impress on the mind of a child the incredible wonders of God's knowledge and wisdom in creating the earth. They will be amazed at the strange creatures they see, and you can point to the God who made them. They will stand in awe by the seashore; and there you can tell them that God's love is immeasurable.
As they walk the forest, splash in the surf, look down from a high mountain, you can point them to God's great power. A vacation can be a time of spiritual growth for all the family.
The less beautiful on a trip also teaches. Every town has its slums. The Skid Row of Chicago is duplicated in St. Louis, Nashville, Memphis, and a host of other cities. We are reminded of the grace of God which has been freely poured out upon us.
Why do we live in a comfortable home instead of the slums? Why do we have warm and ample clothing, and not handme-downs or scanty rags? Why are we privileged to eat (and overeat) good food, while some have not had a decent meal in weeks? Why have we been privileged to know Christ as Lord and Saviour, and many have not? Not being able to answer these questions, we turn our hearts to God and thank him for his unmerited favor.
Yes, a vacation trip once meant a taxing experience, but now it always brings added spiritual zest to our lives.
(This article appeared in the July, 1958 issue of Home Life.)