A Moment to Unwind

What do you do when your summer travel plans get canceled, and then your backup plans get canceled as well? I don’t know what you do, but me and my Stockton five, we quarantine ourselves in our big van and head north. 

We didn’t have a detailed game plan. We just wanted to get out of the heat and get a change of scenery. We saw the bridges and sea lions of San Francisco. It was fun to see my girls so nervous as they stood in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge and look down to the water.

We spent time in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley, visiting my old houses, my high school, and my parents’ gravesite. It was the first time I was able to introduce my daughters to my parents and my parents to my daughters. The emotion was overwhelming. It was a mixture of thankfulness for the parents I had and heart-wrenching grief that my girls did not get to know them.

From there we went to the Oregon coast. One moment we were playing on the hot beach as if we were back in Belize, and the next moment it was all fog, wind and mist. Then, we visited one of my all-time best friends in Portland, Oregon. I enjoyed seeing my wife and his wife connect, and my kids and his kids hang together.

After that we swam in the frigid water of Lake Tahoe. The water was clear and cold, and the horseback ride and sunset were joyful and warm.

Finally we celebrated my nine-year-old’s birthday in Vegas. Vegas is a strange place, but all the lights and liveliness made it fun for Eva.

There were a million moments to unwind our stressed-out souls. It only took three days for the grip of Phoenix’s worries and demands to feel light and distant. Out there, away from all the noise of the news and social media, I remembered how peaceful and pleasant this world can be.

I am very thankful for our time away, and I am grateful for the privilege of vacation time from work and the ability to afford it. I felt unsure about the timing because of all of the uncertainty with COVID-19. But, at the beginning of this year the Lord told me 2020 would be a year to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. It seems to me the disruption we are living in is not going to be over soon. This shaking God has allowed, and has purpose in, will continue until He sees the humble hearts He is looking for. 

I really hope you and yours are doing well. I miss being together and I struggle feeling disconnected as a church family. Our team is constantly thinking about what we can do to minister well to our church family and the world around us. Some weeks we feel like we did well, and some weeks we throw our hands up and hope God can use the little loaves and fish we have to offer. 

My brothers and sisters, may God grant you strength to endure and may He grant you peaceful moments.

David