vacation 2016

Hello from central Florida.

There I am, playing around at the motel we stayed at in Jacksonville 


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.

This will be our home for the week. 



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.

My wife and I at Epcot in front of "spaceship Earth." 


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

It is Friday now , and we are coming to the end of our vacation tommorow. That's not completly a sad thing because it is not neccessarily "where" one goes on a vacation but "who" they go with.  Now for me, that would be my wife of almost 32 years.  The best way to describe us is by using an old time radio program (before there was tv) called My favorite husband starring Lucille Ball (google it) 
There was a line in the opening of the show that said , after introducing the stars , that they were "two people who live together , and like it."
I am guessing that is before many peoples time. But it describes us. We actually like being married and we like each other still. We remain one anothers best friend. And in this day and age , thats pretty good. 

Yesterday I went snorkeling for the first time. 

That's me, on the left. My first time snorkeling. 


Since I am not to comfortable in water, it took me awhile to get used to it. But it was an enjoyable experience. I saw plenty of fish as well as some manatee. I have always been facinated by those animals but then again, it does not take much to facinate me.

I am going to have to pause here again and finish this post tommorow and include some pics. So till then, keepReadingit ! 

**

Today is going home day. Just some closing random thoughts. That's what this blog is for anyway. 

 Vacations are a funny thing. Since it's been several years in our going on one, we may have forgotten some  things. 
By that I mean, sometimes when we are away from the daily normal routine of life, we tend to let our guard down. 

Whether it's spending money we normally wouldn't have at home, or having our daily personal time with God interrupted, vacations have a way of revealing just how routine life is. 
And you know what? 
Routine is not all that bad. 

It goes without saying, that life has many ways of interrupting our daily routine, but given enough time we manage to find ourselves settling into those interruptions putting us back into a routine. 

So let's hear it for 'routine."
Our vacation was a modest one compared to what we've seen in the Orlando area. 
I personally do not envy those who can stay in the most lavish of resorts, or those with yachts & very large mobile homes. 

My only regret when considering things like that is, people have forgotten what this country is all about. 
People view life thru a "fairness" lens, and that's sad. 
God doesn't even use that lens. Nor is heaven itself under that light. 
But mankind "thinks" they can pull off a society based on "fairness."  Talk about arrogance! 

Some Christians may think it too be a misuse of time to spend a week in such a lavish area dedicated to the extreme side of vacation life, and the Orlando area is just that. 
But this country is filled with areas of extravagance and luxury. 
Luxury living is not a sin. 
But forgetting the poor and elderly is. 

Whenever I travel, I marvel at what God has allowed man to do. 
From is amazing architecture to the amazing technology we have. 
I saw many resorts that would have the ones staying there pay a thousand dollars or more a night. 
No matter how we view that, we sin. 
No way around it. 
That's simply because we have forgotten what America is all about. 
And that's brought on by ignorance of God's complete Word. 
I find it remarkable how everything leads back to that. 

I only have sorrow for today's younger crowd, those 30 and under,  who lack an understanding of God's complete Word.
It's because of that sorrow I even began these blogs. 

For it is them, who are subjected to this all inclusive world, whether it's from the church or not. Both are big in that area,of inclusiveness. 
I know Disney is big on that as well. The main message from there is unity, but that unity is of a global nature. It's everywhere you look, at Disney. 

All I can say is, good luck in trying to tell this Bible illiterate generation, that the unity the world and the church speak of, is as unbiblical as anything we can imagine. 

This younger generation of Christians are armed to the teeth with scripture verses to combat anyone trying to tell them, unity is not God's idea.  
That's all they have. That's all they've been given and that's all they had time for. 
So is it any wonder why they roll their eyes when communicating with a sola scriptura believer. 


I've said it many times on this blog, that the most difficult area of reading & understanding God's complete Word is in its opposing and conflicting answers to life's questions. 
That along with having everything we've trusted growing up come under intense critical judgement (or suspicion) makes Bible reading verse by verse a very unwelcome thing. 

The Bible is filled with opposing answers to questions. Like "yes & no"  or "joy & sorrow"  or "peace & conflict." 
The only place these things don't belong together is in our heads. 

Marriage is a perfect example of this, and I don't say that in a humorous way. 
It's God's idea to unite two opposing people. 
I only post this way because so many people these days find it tough letting go of how they were raised and letting go of what they think. 

Truth is, we don't know as much as we think we do. 
God's complete Word does shine a huge spotlight on all that's wrong with our culture and our way of thinking and it's easy to dwell on that for a time after one reads it through. 

I should know because that happened to me. (just ask my wife :-) 
But I think this vacation has taught me something. 
It has taught me not to dwell so much on cultures turning from God, in every area. 
I only need to obey God in all I do. Only I know what those areas are, for me. 

The mistakes I make, like overspending or overeating, are not the sin areas of my life. Those are consequences of the true sin of not obeying God and all He says to me. Obedience to God will solve much of life's confusion. 

I guess I just needed some time away from my daily routine, too appreciate it more. 
Vacations are fun. And each one my wife and I take is better than the last. 
But true happiness is in what many folks call "the daily grind." 
And what better way is there than that, to describe our Christian walk. 
That walk is an endurance thing, a marathon race and yes, a daily grind. 

Let's never take a vacation from that. Lord, help me to run this race with patience. 

Till next time - blessings to all!