B U M M E R! 

I had such “lofty” expectations for our vacation! Like most of the American world, we try to live within a pretty tight budget.

We save a certain amount each month for Christmas and Birthdays (a necessity in a family as large as ours 🙂 ) and we set aside vacation money throughout the year, or sometimes two years.

For us, vacations are definitely luxuries to be planned carefully and fully appreciated! Our adventure to Galveston, Texas was no different. 🙂  Prepaying our lodging before we left, we calculated and carefully divided our money into the old fashioned but effective cash envelope system- Gas, Eating, and Entertainment.

Obviously, there was one envelope we forgot to budget for – LIFE!

Vacations are invaluable to us because its the only time all year when we’re alone and uninterrupted.

Ministry is wonderful but it is refreshing to have a clean slate for the week and not have to deal with any challenges!

Did I say, not deal with any challenges???? 🙂 Does a pig fly?

Two hours after we left Lawrence, our family minivan’s fan for the engine burnt out.  Towed back to the metropolis of Emporia, we hunkered down in a Best Western across the street from the Nissan dealership. Our positivity carried through until we were informed the next morning, they couldn’t get our part and fix the car for a 2 or 3 days!

Hmmm. What to do?  We only had 7 days to vacation- our lodging in Galveston was prepaid and we wouldn’t get reimbursed if we cancelled.

Forward-  Charge!

Yep- we literally got our card and charged a rental car and tried not to think about how much it was going to cost to fix the van when we got back.

Not a promising start but once we arrived, the fun began. Surf, sun, and relaxation-

until last night. 

We went to Wendy’s on the Seawall, walked over to rent a rickshaw bike and spent the next 40 minutes riding up and down calling out hello’s and sharing smiles with everyone we met!  We checked our bike back in and walked back to Wendy’s to get a thick and frosty (after all that hard work 🙂 ) and guess what?

Our rental car was no where in site!   Our car had been towed!!!! The towing signs were conveniently placed in the back of the parking lot while we had parked in the front. It had crossed our minds to move the van after eating, but since we were coming back to get frosties, didn’t see any signs and the parking lot that was mostly empty, we made a very costly mistake!

It seems they have quite a little business on the Island. The “Islanders” drive around in the parking lots with their phones, videotaping anyone they see leaving the parking lot. The call goes in immediately.  When you come back and realize in a panic you have no car, they smile quite cheekily and give you a business card of a friend who owns a cab to take you to get your car back. (actually the police gave us a lift as we tried to figure a way out of this neat little trap 🙂 ) You go to a very seedy part of town, bars locking everything!  You arrive only to find a long line of other tourists waiting to get their car paid for and released, along with a big burly bouncer with tons of tattoos keeping order and aura of threat against anyone who would protest!  Add $300.00 more dollars towing fee to our growing non-existent  “LIFE HAPPENS” ENVELOPE fund and I began to feel quite sorry for us.

HOWEVER, I believe with all my heart there will always be “surprising treasures” in the disappointments and challenges of life!

Sometimes, it’s just plain HARD to discover those treasures when we encounter “afflictions”, “trials”, “mountains” or whatever else you want to label them! 🙂

Even this morning, I woke up ready to pack it up and just go home. But my family encouraged me.  Jeff shared what he has been learning studying Job (no more studying Job- Jeff 🙂 )

Josh and Moriah shared different Bible verses that had come up in their devotions this week, and Bethany was going around hugging everyone saying, “It’s ok. We love each other.  We can always walk.” And then, our friend Tim commented on Facebook- “I can’t wait to see what surprising treasure you find.”

So here’s the revelation:  The key word is MOMENTARY!!!!

The verse is familiar, I just have to remember that ALL of our annoyances, trials, bummer moments are just TEMPORARY!!!!!  But there’s even better news- these times are ACHIEVING something eternal in us- I don’t know all of the details but it’s some kind of GLORY that’s going to make all these times seem like nothing.

[Tweet “We fix our eyes on the eternal, knowing God is using everything to produce in us riches that will never fade!”]

2 Cor. 4:17,18 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal“

 The glory in eternity is going to outweigh EVERY MOMENTARY TROUBLE WE HAVE IN THIS LIFE!!!!!!