A Family Vacation

Earlier this month, our family spent a week at South Lake Tahoe. Trips like this are rare for us, partly because of expense, and partly because it's exhausting traveling with seven children, two of which are toddlers. But our friends blessed us with an opportunity to visit the beautiful Tahoe area with them, and our adventurous side said, "Yes! Let's do it!"

I was eagerly anticipating this trip. After a busy summer, the start of school, and my husband's accident, I was ready to kick back and relax a little.

But soon after settling into our hotel room, I found myself being stricter than even at home!

"Be careful! We don't want to break anything!"

"Shh! Settle down! Everyone in the hotel can hear us!"

"Please help clean up! What will 'housekeeping' think?!"

By day 4, my husband and I were exhausted from bad sleep and bad attitudes. We had a impromptu meeting in bed that night, to discuss how we wanted days 5-8 to go.

The first thing that needed to change: our expectations.

I wanted the children to be absolutely enthusiastic and energetic about our plans, while behaving like guests in the White House. My husband wished that this could be a real vacation, meaning "no kids, no schedule, no demands." We were short-tempered and annoyed because in our minds, we expected this vacation to go differently! And our expectations weren't realistic!

The second thing that needed to change: our attitudes.

The children were happy sitting in the hot tub and watching television all day. My husband and I wanted to see more sights. Whenever the kids grumbled about going somewhere, we parents interpreted their comments as ingratitude, and we ended up grumbling ourselves.

It was time for grace.

Our after-hours meeting ended with this conclusion: we are imperfect parents. Even when we were in a beautiful setting, with the best intentions of spending quality time with our family, we failed as parents. Only our Father in Heaven is the perfect parent, and He was the one we needed to rely on for grace and love, and the ability to share that grace and love with our children.

Days 5-8 turned out to be the most restful and enjoyable days of our trip. We rented a double surrey from the local bike shop and piled all nine of us in it. We did an easy hike along the shores of Fallen Leaf Lake, where we caught (and released) crayfish and admired the golden yellow leaves of the autumnal aspen trees. We spent time in the hot tub. We focused more on the "being" together, rather than the "doing" together. My husband and I still had bad sleep, but our days were full of joy and contentment, as we rested in the loving grace of our Heavenly Father.

When Friday arrived, our kids didn't want to leave, and I don't blame them. I too was loving my time with my family, living a life with fewer distractions (and a few more luxuries). And though we weren't able to take home the hot tub, the housekeeping, or the lake, we did return home with something more important, a renewed sense of grace, gratefulness, and family.

I would say then that our family vacation was a success!