-
Christian Parenting Mistakes: #3 Giving Stuff Versus Giving Myself?
What does love look like? How do we teach it to our children? For some families, it is expressed through encouraging words or the giving of lots of stuff. For other families, it looks like a vacation in amusement parks or exotic places. The Bible teaches that love is not about giving stuff or even just spending time together, it is about giving self. Little in this world is satisfying long term. Words can be empty and time together isn’t always productive. Quoting Isaiah’s message from God, Jesus said, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” Time without investing our heart will never…
-
Practicing A Four-Letter Word
“The answer is on the Danube.” A friend encouraged me with these words as I explained my husband’s and my plans for a summer vacation along the Danube River. I laughed at her statement. She repeated with more emphasis, “The answer is on the Danube.” As it turned out, she was right. Let me explain. My husband and I just finished an extremely intense, challenging, and difficult season of our lives. That season had included many accomplishments and successes, but it had also included sickness, medical expenses, heartache, and loss. And it had been three years since he and I had “run away” together for a bit of respite. What…
-
Five ways to have a richer, more joyful vacation
Vacation offers the possibility that, for at least a week or two, it really *can* be “all about me.” Relax and indulge in what we want to do when we want to do it. But, if we were to pursue a vacation with Jesus at the center, might we actually find more joy? What would it look like? Here are five ways you can have a richer, more joyful vacation: Plan and Pray Part of the fun of vacation is planning what to do. Even letting the kids help pick out places to see and things to do. It ramps up everyone’s expectations and anticipation of the fun to come.…
-
Rest: Sochi and the Cadillac Lie
Have you seen this ad that Cadillac has been running during the Sochi Olympics? Don't believe the lie. Here is a summary of a biblical view of rest: A few more stats…. Men who take annual vacations decrease their rates of heart attack by 30%, but for women the rate of decrease is more significant at 50%. Most bodies need seven or eight hours of sleep. (Americans average less than six.) Stuff will never satisfy. It's not just "the world" that feeds the lie. Many churches foster a culture that says, “Busyness is next to godliness,” but God designed us to need rest. Ruth Haley Barton rightly observes, “There…
-
Are You Taking Time Off?
Jesus said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). So they went away by themselves in a boat to some remote place (Mark 6:31–32). I just returned from the first two-week vacation that I’ve taken since I was a kid living with my parents. It came on the heels of finishing the latest issue of the magazine I edit, which has a fall theme devoted to “Rest.” I’ve conducted lots of interviews and read statistics on the subject lately, and I’ve been trying to apply what I’ve learned. We…
