Take Your Vacation!

“We don’t have the time.”  

“We don’t have the money.”  

“Work is just too busy.”

These are some of the reasons (excuses) I’ve heard for families not taking annual vacations.  Hey, I get it.  I spent a decade in corporate America with a demanding job, a young family, and a strong desire to succeed.

Thankfully, one day my Nanny shared with Carrie some wisdom about vacations.  I’m even more thankful that we heeded her wisdom.  My Nanny and Papa had been married for 30 years when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor – he was 48.  He went through horrendous treatments over the next couple of years to no avail – finally going to be with the Lord on May 10, 1979, at the age of 51.  

It is so unbelievably strange to me today how history repeated itself in our family.  Like my Papa, Carrie was diagnosed with cancer at 48 and passed away a couple of years later at 51.

So, what was the wisdom my Nanny shared with Carrie and Carrie shared with me?  Take vacations now, while you can, and resist putting it off until “someday”.  “Someday when we have more money.”  “Someday when work slows down.”  “Someday when the kids are a little older and can remember it.”

Like so many people, my Nanny and Papa had plans of travel in their retirement years.  But unfortunately, they would not get to enter those retirement years together.  Nanny was thankful that her and Papa took their vacations and made great memories.  When he was gone, she had the memories to hang on to – rather than the regret of all they had missed.  

Because of Nanny’s experiential wisdom, me and Carrie began planning for (saving) and prioritizing vacations – typically 3 weeks per year.  It doesn’t always have to be big or expensive.  For Spring Break each year, we took our kids camping – first in a tent, later in a pop up.  We all had fun and they never knew we chose the trip because it was cheap.

We also began saving money regularly for bigger family trips in the summer.  A cruise, Disney World, or the beach were some typical destinations.  And finally, each fall we would take a couple’s trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  Recently I estimated that we took over 50 trips as a family and a couple during our 25-year marriage.  While I can’t remember many details of these vacations, I am so thankful for all these adventures we had with Carrie.  If we hadwaited, we would have missed it.  And, the benefits continue today with a strong family, a loving relationship with my kids, and lots of laughs over all the things we got ourselves into over the years.

Bottom line: Don’t put off your family vacations!

Philip Hickman has been the Lead Pastor of Legacy Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX since August 2010.  He and his wife, Carrie enjoyed a wonderful marriage before she went to be with the Lord just 6 days before their 25th anniversary.  Together, Philip and Carrie have 2 adults children also serving in ministry – a son, John and his wife, Hannah, serving at Generations Church in Keller, TX, and daughter Abby, a college student and ministry leader at Legacy.