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Family Vacations, Saving the Memories & The Gospel

by Marci Ferrell
Christian Living Evangelism

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It's that time of year again when families hit the road.  Our family has always loved to travel and when we started homeschooling we loved the freedom it gave us to travel in the off seasons. Vacations have been moments we have treasured together and I know not every family has the funds, time or desires to travel but I wanted to share some of what we have learned over the years on the road together (28 of them!).

No matter your budget or time available don't miss out on the most important part of family vacations – spending time together as a family!  You're building relationships, serving each other, and creating memories and all is to be done to the glory of God.  What you do together as a family on vacation is much more important than where you go.  

We have visited many National Parks (Rocky Mountain would be our favorite), big cities (we just got back from New York and Chicago is a stop a couple of times of year for us Midwesterners), we love Disney World, Europe is an area we would like to explore again and again (we obviously had a lot of time in Norway with our married daughter living over there), camping, and quaint little towns are always a favorite (Williamsburg and Cannon Beach are on the top of the list there).
(the above links are various places we have stayed in those areas)

What benefits do we as a family see in traveling?  Our list is not exhaustive but here are a few thoughts from the Ferrell Family:

We get to meet and chat with people from all over the world.

Meeting missionaries and spending time learning about other cultures is life changing.  

Visiting historical sites (which are everywhere!) and seeing where the events we've read about brings them to life and helps us want to learn more about different times and places in history.  (When we studied American History we traveled America to see Civil War battle sites and continued up through Williamsburg, Washington D.C and Philadelphia to make history come alive to our whole family.)  

Every vacation is a learning experience together.  (I call them “live” documentaries)

We would rather buy less and travel more because the memories are irreplaceable.

The family time to just catch up and talk at a relaxed pace with no time restraints or responsibilities looming over you brings much freedom in conversation.

Having gospel conversations with people from all over the world.

Hiking back trails in the National Parks or climbing Yosemite Falls have been fun challenges we accomplished together as a family.  The memories and conversations during those times are a treasure.

Planning the trip out beforehand is a blast and we love those hot chocolate nights with a guidebook or map in hand to share what everyone would like to see. It also helps in the area of putting the needs of others before yourself ;).

Vacations are a gift from God so remember to give Him thanks in all things.

Seeing the awe and wonder of God's creation from the Pacific to the Atlantic from the Rockies to the Appalachians from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi never ceases to amaze us.  

Your kids become great map readers and eventually they stop asking, “Are we there yet?” because with a map in hand they know how much farther :).

Every trip we find ourselves reminiscing about past trips and reliving the experiences together again through our memories.

Deepening our family relationships.

Laughing and laughing and laughing together.

Sleeping together in one room – loved our nighttime stories in bed and game nights in the hotel.  

Hugs and hand holding as a family.  

Getting to share in all these new sites, sounds and experiences together as a family.

We get to enjoy and just play together as a family for an extended period of time.  Love, love, love this!

No matter the adventure, time away or wonderful sights – there is still no place like home!

Saving the Memories:

Taking the time to get photos in books or journals written in has been a challenge for us.  My photo books have evolved over time to big and bulky to small and slim.  The journaling part of our trips varies depending on the type trip we took.

One of my favorite journals was when my husband took time during a trip to write down his favorite one line memories from the trip.  We still love to bring out that photo album and read through  Dad's list of top memories.  There have been trips I've journaled in detail every day and other times I just made quick daily notes to remind us of where we ventured each day.  Our kids have kept their own journals from trips and some of them have just been one page hand written summaries of what they enjoyed the most.  (Great homeschool assignments!)

I used to use Exposures and sometimes one trip would have three photo albums (this was pre-digital age).  Now I use Shutterfly to make fun albums (I am terribly behind at the moment).  Instead of saving each ticket stub or guide map to remember parts of the trip I now take photos of them and upload them right into my photo album so I still have the memory.

We take pictures of hotel room numbers, hotel rooms (especially some interesting ones we had in the past), favorite restaurant receipts, subway passes, guide maps with favorite locations on them, lots of food pictures (we are weird like that – our vacation motto is: “It's all about the food”), and whatever else we would like a visual memory of for when we return.

The Gospel & Vacations

Ultimately, vacations are a time for families to build relationships, make wonderful memories and glorify the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:31).  As a parent our attitude and guidance are going to make the vacation a memorable one and even in vacationing we are still to point our children to the Christ.

Make church attendance a priority during your vacation, especially if you're traveling over a Sunday.  Sometimes we have a shortened travel time and are home to worship with our local church family.  Other times we find a local church in the area to worship with or if it is just impossible we have family worship together in the hotel room together.  We have participated in the Tuesday night prayer meeting at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and worshipped with Grace Community Church in California.  Don't neglect time in the Word as a family during vacations – sometimes there is more freedom when you are away from home without time constraints.  

There is no vacation as a believer from the gospel.  Vacations are still a time to serve and love each other and look for opportunities to share the Good News of the Gospel with those the Lord has put in our paths.

The most important – wherever we go the gospel of Jesus Christ goes with us.  Whether we get to share verbally or in passing along a gospel tract to someone.  Your vacations can make an impact for  eternity within your own family and in the lives of others.


“Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility … I have tried to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different … Gratitude exclaims, very properly, “How good of God to give me this.” Adoration says, “What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations [I had to look this word up!] are like this!” One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun … If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.”
 ~ C. S. Lewis – quoted by John Piper in When I Don't Desire God (a highly recommend read)

Share with us why your family loves (or maybe doesn't love vacations).  How do you store your memories? What is a most memorable family vacation moment?

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Related posts:

  1. Building Loving Relationships in Your Church Family
  2. Simple Ways to Share the Gospel as a Family
  3. You Can’t Be a Biblical Woman and Not Talk About the Gospel
  4. EP 83: Cousin Camp: Making Memories with Your Grandchildren


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Comments

  1. Amber R says

    at

    I loved our family vacations! Those were memories that I will always treasure 🙂 I love my family <3

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      It was such a fun post to write Amber – I so treasure those times together xoxox. I love my family too <3

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Marci Ferrell
By affliction, Christ . . .⁣ shows us our empti By affliction, Christ . . .⁣
 shows us our emptiness and weakness,⁣
 draws us to the throne of grace,⁣
 purifies our affections,⁣
 weans us from the world,⁣
 and makes us long for Heaven.⁣
~ J.C Ryle
This simple free eight-page guide is meant to help This simple free eight-page guide is meant to help you think through your summertime schedule for your family. As you walk through it you'll determine what your family loves to do, leave room for spontaneity, and put together a simple daily routine to help your days run a bit smoother. ⁣
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There are some summertime meal planning tips and a printable with ideas to put on your family's bucket list for summer and maybe spark new ones of your own! ⁣
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Come download your free 8-page summertime guide here and get access to our whole library of printables when you do.
Such a good conversation with Dale Partridge from Such a good conversation with Dale Partridge from @relearnhq about his new Gospel Project called MailtheGospel.org. You can get the gospel to anyone anywhere.
So appreciate @reagantrose (I do recommend you fol So appreciate @reagantrose (I do recommend you follow friends if you don’t yet!)- link to the podcast episode we talked about Homemaking to the Glory of God in my profile @thankfulhomemaker 

Repost from @reagantrose 
Godliness > Your Plans⁠
The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.⁣
~ Henry Ward Beecher⁣
⁣
Come listen to EP 32: Preparing Our Families for Sunday Morning Worship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
How many times does Sunday morning roll around and How many times does Sunday morning roll around and you find your heart in a state of chaos instead of calm to worship the Lord?  How many Sundays do you arrive at church and realize you haven’t taken the time all week to pray for your pastor or your church family? ⁣
⁣
I want to share with you some simple steps we can take to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord. ⁣
⁣
The hope today is to get you to understand the purpose and the mission of the local church and then to move on toward how we can proceed with some simple steps to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord.⁣
⁣
Come listen to EP 32: Preparing Our Families for Sunday Morning Worship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
"Home is the true wife's kingdom. ⁣ ⁣ Very lar "Home is the true wife's kingdom. ⁣
⁣
Very largely does the wife hold in her ⁣
hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness ⁣
and the highest good of the hearts that ⁣
nestle there. In the last analysis, home ⁣
happiness depends on the wife. ⁣
⁣
Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere. ⁣
⁣
Her hands fashion its beauty. ⁣
⁣
Her heart makes its love. ⁣
⁣
And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, ⁣
that no woman who has been called to be a wife, ⁣
and has listened to the call, should consider any⁣
price too great to pay, to be . . .⁣
 the light,⁣
 the joy,⁣
 the blessing,⁣
 the inspiration, ⁣
of a home. ⁣
⁣
The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, ⁣
filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing ⁣
something better than anything else her hands ⁣
could find to do beneath the skies.⁣
⁣
A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of ⁣
home happiness. God sends many beautiful things ⁣
to this world, many noble gifts; but no blessing is ⁣
richer than that which He bestows in a mother who ⁣
has learned love's lessons well, and has realized ⁣
something of the meaning of her sacred calling."⁣
⁣
~ J. R. Miller, "Secrets of Happy Home Life"
Friends 😊 - I'm so excited to share a conversat Friends 😊 - I'm so excited to share a conversation all about the Gospel with Dale Partridge from @relearnhq⁣
⁣
Please join us on IG live tomorrow (June 21st) at 5:30 PM CST/ 3:30 PST and learn about Dale's new project to help equip us to share the Gospel with anyone, anywhere!⁣
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Please join us!
Summer is a natural time for me to get off my rout Summer is a natural time for me to get off my routine of menu planning. In the winter, we're more apt to stick to a schedule, but summer brings about a more flexible and changing calendar. ⁣
⁣
I'm sharing some simple tips that have been a help to me and hopefully, they'll help you in planning your summertime meals. Menu planning is a time and money saver, and I don't know about you, but I would sure like to have more time to enjoy my summer months.⁣
⁣
Come listen to EP 77: Simple Summertime Meal Planning Tips at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
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