vacation 2016

Hello from central Florida.
That's right. I have been on vacation all week.  Because of personal reasons , my wife and I have not been able to take a vacation for over two years so this was a long time coming.
So we left our chilly home in central Pennsylvania , to head down to a chilly central Florida. Well, chilly by their standards anyway. But later today it will be back in the 80's so complaining is a waste of time.
There are many places one can go on vacation, but these trips to Florida are easy to plan and we needed something like that. Besides, my wife loves it here and as is the case with many North east residents, would not mind moving here some day.
But year round weather comes with its price as well.  I will admit, that price is hard to spot, especially when I am snow blowing a couple of feet of snow, like last winter, but as it is in any case and with any issue , going by what we see is not always the best determining factor .

But we are having a very relaxing time , camping in Florida. We rented a camper trailer for the week and are enjoying the outdoors.
Many people tell me I don't know how to relax. This vacation could prove them wrong. It is hard to escape the normal activities of life and in many ways we never do nor could we. But since we live in and were raised in a culture that places more value in what we think as opposed to what actually is , vacations , as well as many issues , take on a new meaning.

Because of the American mindset , we can miss so much of the true blessings we have daily.
Now if anyone needs any solid prove of that , just look at the reaction of people over our past election.  My only comment on that (for now) is , we Christians should be careful for what we wish for.
As any parent knows , the most effective method of punishment , is to give their childeren what they want. Or what they think they want.

But I want to stay with vacation thoughts on this post. If I had to choose one word , to describe our vacation, that word would have to be overwhelming.
We were in this central Fla. area for seven days. We spent a couple days checking out Disney. This is not our first visit to Disney but with each visit , it becomes more overwhelming. Add to that , that in my own Bible reading , I am in the book of Romans and that book speaks a lot on the flesh and the Spirit.
I can assure you , that there are few places in this country that can rival the sense one feels , as they observe all the things that appeal to the flesh at Disney.

I say that , in a good and not so good way.
It is good , if we remember Who gave mankind the ability to build such a place as Disney. I mean , the buildings and technology and architecture are like nothing I have ever seen.  To think that God has given so many people , the knowledge to construct such a place. I am sure there are people who may think this is a waste of time , not only building places like this, but even visiting places like this.
But no sin has been committed in either of those. Prosperity is not a sin. A wealthy nation is not a sin.  But those things can be and are the seedbed for sin. But that can be said of any state of being we find ourselves in.

I marvel at all the things that can be seen at Disney . So is it any wonder that I was thankful to be reminded this morning , from Romans that ..."hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see , we wait for it with patience"
Now there is a lot more to that thought , but the point is , that while it is ok to marvel at all we see , that man has done , it does have its limits.
I am sure their are those who would have better purposes for the vast amounts of money spent on such places as Disney, but I have found that even thinking this way can cause many people to lose sight of whats important.
But there are times that I wonder if this was completly what Walt Disney had in mind when he had his vision of a future.

Vision is a funny thing. Even the modern church has tapped into the hearts and minds of people , using this "vision" talk.  The reason it is so easy to pull this off is because so many church goers do not know their entire Bible , so fast talking preachers can have a field day with the concept of "vision."  and trust me, they have.

People lose sight of so much in this world when these concepts become confused.
I will admit, it is a daily exercise , keeping my feet on the ground as I juggle all that the world has to offer and the eternal riches God provides.
I think that the most important thing I am learning is that I do not have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.
By that I mean , think of all the things we worry about these days.
Whether its my kids or politics or even the mess come to be known as the visible church.
Now the normal reaction from any well seasoned believer is for them to say "well, God is still on the throne and He is in control." 
Most times, when any believer says that, what that means is ..conversation over and they don't want to discuss it any further.
Sadly , phrases like that become mundane cliches , that lack meaning simply because that fact (of God being in control) was never in dispute.

But when a believer truly knows what God being in control really means , that's when clarity truly comes. And the only way to know that is by knowing what God says in His complete Word. Not just bits and pieces. And for that we need to be living in the Spirit. Gods Spirit.

Well, I am not done with this post so please come back later. Disney is not the only thing we are enjoying. I need to get ready to take a drive northwest to take a boat out on the bay to enjoy some of what God made, concerning wildlife. And I can assure you, it beats anything Disney could come up with.
But I wanted to post this early and I will include pics on next post.

BRB