The Importance of Vacation

We just got back from a great vacation! I am so thankful and blessed!

We have been saying for years that we needed a whole month off in the summer. Being in the ministry is draining in a way that you donʼt understand unless youʼve been there. This was only the second summer we have taken that much time off after 15 years of doing ministry as a married couple. In those early years we didnʼt feel like we needed a break because we were super young and excited and not very busy.

As we began to have children we got tired a lot easier and as they got older we got busier. As we moved, traveled, had more children, planted two churches from scratch, and started a Christian school we were really needing a vacation.

The church we were at at the time told us we could not take a month off. So we didnʼt. Iʼm thankful the church we are at now allowed us time off. If your Pastor asks for some time off please support him in that. They carry a great burden 24/7 and need time to rest and reflect.

1,784 Pastors quit per month. Iʼm sure they are hesitant to ask for help or time off, so when they do say, “Yes!”.

One reason vacation (or a sabbatical) is so important and beneficial is because it gives you time away to think, pray, meditate, read, study and hear from the Lord.

The Lord spoke to me on vacation about one of our children. The Lord did a work in my husbandʼs heart as he read Calvary Road by Roy Hession.

Vacation is not time to stray from the Lord and get drunk and party and hook up with the opposite sex (or same sex these days). It should be a time where you draw closer to the Lord because you are away from the things that distract you like your job.

I intentionally made myself not be on Facebook much during vacation except to post pictures. It felt so freeing to be disconnected from my phone.

How do you use vacation? Is it helpful or harmful? Does it draw you closer to the Lord?


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