Thursday, August 1, 2013

Spiritual Take-Aways from Our Summer of Fun

According to the calendar, there are still some summer days left. However, our children will be starting a new school year in a couple of weeks. And so, we are winding down from our summer of fun. My family has engaged in a number of activities and vacations this summer. We traveled to Southern California, Eastern Nevada, and Northwestern Colorado over the past three months. We have camped, seen plays, visited museums, seen and read about animals, and so much more. I have kept a list of those summer activities, but I have also been mentally recording some of the spiritual truths we have learned over this time. Here are some of those truths.

            The Bond of Family is Important. My wife, two children, and I spent a great deal of time together this summer. We also vacationed with both my parents and my in-laws. The kids got to meet extended family during this time, as well. We have bonded as a family, and we are closer today than we were at the start of the summer. Was it always easy to be together as a family? Heavens, no. We had arguments. We grew tired of being around each other. The kids were at times unruly. And there were times when I, too, was unruly. But, we did grow closer through it all (and found out more about each other than we may care to have known).

I have gained a greater appreciation for the importance of family. There are times when I desperately want to retreat from my family. But, I am so fond of them and truly enjoy being with them. In today’s hectic, fast-paced culture, it can be easy to be distant from family. Even when we are in the same room, we may be worlds away as we engage with our smart phones and tablets instead of the people sitting next to us. Many of our adventures kept us from those distracting elements. We camped in the mountains of Colorado, 9400 feet above sea level, with no electricity or running water. So, we spent time as a family. As we traveled to eastern Nevada, we traveled on the self-proclaimed “Loneliest Road in America.” In the middle of the desert, we entertained each other with conversation and music. In Southern California, we knew nobody, and relied on each other to get to the right location and to watch over each other.

            Sometimes, as I read the Bible, I too quickly pass over the passages dealing with the bond of family. I forget that Abraham, Jacob, David, and other biblical figures relied on family in ways that we do not today. I glance over the passages in which we are told that we are now part of God’s family, adopted children of the King. We are told that God is a nurturing and loving Father, who gives generously to His children as He protects and watches over them. As I watched my children place their trust in me and my wife in unfamiliar surroundings, those passages resonated in a new way. And those passages challenge me, too. Do I trust God in the way that my children trust in me when they are unsure of a situation or unsure of their surroundings?

            God Has Created a Multifaceted World that is Harmoniously United. We saw and experienced so much this summer. We saw the wonder of God’s natural creation. We got to see elk, deer, coyotes, and birds in their natural environs. We read about arctic seals, moose, and blue whales. We experienced the creative wonder of marvelous singers, actors, artists, and musicians. We experienced first-hand the diversity of our world. We were able to appreciate classical music, children’s music, folk music, rock, country, and ‘80s new wave music (my son became a fan). We saw classic art and modern art. One could argue that we experienced so many differences throughout the summer. But, I see the harmony in the midst of that diversity.

I think we experienced this most clearly on our camping trip. My son is beginning to understand cause and effect. He is beginning to understand the intricacy of the natural world. He sees how some animals feed off the land, while other animals feed off each other. And while that is sometimes difficult to explain, he does understand a sense of harmony in it all. While we may not completely understand the balance of the natural world, we appreciate it. Spiritually, I stand in awe of a God who does understand it well. I cannot understand how someone can see all the intricacies of the natural world and not see the hand of a marvelous Creator in it all. How can one witness the marvel of an opera voice, or a rock voice, or an accomplished harpist, or a spoken-word poet and not feel in her soul the workings of an Other? All of our diverse experiences led to many discussions in this vein. I think my kids have a sense of awe at the diversity and wonder of God’s creative force.

            Take Time to Pray. There were a couple of times when the only thing I knew to do was to pray for others. While traveling that “Loneliest Road in America” my kids and I saw the after effects of a roll-over car accident. When we passed the accident, paramedics were carrying a man on a stretcher to an emergency vehicle. I don’t know the extent of his injuries. I don’t know if there were others in the vehicle. My children were of course curious about the accident, asking what happened and if the man would be O.K. In honesty, I could not answer their questions, so I suggested we pray for him. And we did.

            On our final night of camping, the next camping spot was occupied by hard-drinking, foul-mouthed campers who were loud far beyond the quiet hour. They made our final night with my in-laws an unpleasant evening. As we left the campground the next day, my wife and I talked about the unpleasant evening, the campers disregard and disrespect for the other camper, and how it really affected our camping experience. Then, we decided that the best thing we could do was to pray for those campers. And we did.

            As I put my son to bed at night, I have heard him praying before he drifts off to sleep. He is five-years-old, so his prayers are often selfish. He often asks God for things that he wants, as if God is a magic genie. But, his prayers are sometimes right on target.  My son’s innocent prayers are a gentle reminder that I should take everything to my Father. And as he falls to sleep, I pray that he and his sister will someday place their faith in Jesus. I have no control over that, just as I had no control over the health of the roll-over victim or the neighbor campers, so I leave it in God’s hands.

            The Power of Death My son wanted to go fishing during our camping trip more than anything. He talked about fishing for quite some time. He always said we would catch our fish and eat our catch. But, when the time came to fish, the magnitude of death became real to him. It started as his Grampa hooked a worm to the fishing pole. My son realized that the worm would have to die in the course of the fishing. He was noticeably distraught about the worm losing its life. As a result, we had to ask Grampa to bait the hook with salmon eggs instead of worms (please don’t tell my son about the life inside a salmon egg!). And so, we transported a container of worms 1,000 miles to their new home in our vegetable garden. When we caught a fish, my son once again understood the gravity of the experience, and wanted the fish returned to the lake. So we had a catch and release fishing extravaganza.

Once he was faced with the reality of death, and his responsibility in that death, my son was very uncomfortable. I got to talk to him about the experience while the others continued fishing. I told him that it is a big deal that those animals would die, and that I could understand if he was not ready to be a part of their demise. Then he caught me off guard. He said that it was just like when Adam and Eve sinned and God let them kill animals so that Adam and Eve would have clothing to cover their nakedness. He made the connection between sin and death in a way that I would not have expected from a five-year-old. So, we took time to talk about that truth that humankind’s sin did bring about death. It was a great discussion. Will my sensitive son want to fish (or hunt) again? I don’t know. But, I thank God for the very powerful discussion my son and I got to have about sin and death.


What a fantastic summer. There is so much more that we have experienced, and so much more that I have learned. I am so grateful to God for His goodness and the gift of relationships.

For more Faith of This Father, you can like the Faith of This Father page on Facebook or follow on Twitter @faithotfather. Or email me at faithofthisfather@yahoo.com.

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