A Not-So-Perfect Vacation

Have you ever wanted something to be perfect, then things didn't go as you expected them to and it wasn't so perfect after all? On our vacation this year, I had to keep reminding the kids (and myself), that there's no such thing as a perfect vacation (or a perfect anything, for that matter). We did have fun, and we truly enjoyed visiting with family and seeing new places, but we also had some difficult moments. All 4 of us ended up at a doctor's office at some point during the week...

First of all, EL had 3 appointments in St. Louis. She had a checkup with the Sleep Clinic, the Ophthalmologist, and the Endocrinologist. (I'll share how things went with those in another post, but another needle stick was involved for drawing labs. It was stressful, but we made it through it.)

We had a nice visit with my parents while we were in the St. Louis area, then traveled to Kentucky for the major part of our vacation. My brother and his family live there, and it was really great to visit with them and to see the beautiful scenery in the area. However, while there, David was ushering a dog out of the house and split his big toenail. It wasn't serious, just a little inconvenient... and painful. When we got home, he ended up seeing his foot doctor to get the nail clipped properly.

After we left my brother's place, we spent a couple of days in the Mammoth Cave area. While there, I fell in the hotel bathroom and landed hard on my tailbone. When we got home, I had an X-ray taken and, thankfully nothing is broken; but it sure does hurt.

Also in Kentucky, JJ came down with a fever, sore throat, and bad earache. Our time was cut short at Beech Bend Amusement Park, and we headed home. A doctors visit revealed an ear infection and sinus issues. He was put on antibiotics and is now doing better.

As we headed home to nurse our wounds, I think we were all a bit disappointed that things didn't go as planned. We all wanted a perfect vacation away from the stresses of life, and I'm not really sure why things happened the way they did. Maybe God wanted us to come home sooner than planned because He was protecting us from something that was about to happen. Maybe our cats missed us. Maybe we needed to be reminded that it is always better to focus on the positive rather than the negative. Maybe this was simply a teaching moment for our kids that, even through disappointments, we can still praise the Lord.

I could go on with all the maybe's... The fact of the matter is that life is full of ups and downs, and being on vacation doesn't automatically keep difficulties from happening, and it doesn't mean God doesn't love us. It just means we live in an imperfect world... and it's our reactions to the negative things that will make a huge difference in our attitudes and outlook on life.