Vacation Essentials

Vacations are an exciting time around our house. The days leading up to vacation are almost as exciting to our children as the vacation itself. With 5 children at home, I only remember going on one vacation with my parents, maybe two if you count a day trip to Six Flags over Georgia. But Steve and his parents and sometimes his grandparents went on many vacations. He has so many fond memories of those times that we want our children to experience that too.

One particular trip to Daytona Beach came with much anticipation because we were leaving as soon as the kids got out of school at noon. We had packed and planned and the day had finally arrived. In the car line at school, I pulled up to the doors. Nathan and Sophie arrived happy and giddy at the thought of leaving for the beach. However Sophie didn’t come to the car talking about all the things she wanted to do. Instead she had her Bible in her hands. Sophie and Nathan go to a Christian school and they are required to keep a Bible there. They don’t bring them home until the last day of school. So it seemed strange to me that she would have it with her.

“Why are you bringing your Bible?” I asked her. “I’m going to take it on vacation with us, so if anyone there doesn’t know about Jesus, you can talk to them and I will hold the Bible.” My heart was full. Oh my sweet girl! How many six year olds would think about that when they were about to leave to go to the beach? How many people period? I know I hadn’t thought of that. I had thought of what I needed to pack, bought snacks, made sure we had beach towels and sunscreen, but I had not specifically thought about witnessing to someone. Sophie did.

What a wonderful reminder that no matter where we are or what we are doing, we should always be ready to explain the hope we have in Christ Jesus. (1 Peter 3:15) There were sure to be lost people at Dayton Beach, and Sophie was thinking about leading them to Jesus. Who was being the example that day?