We just got back from a family vacation, and I’m missing the water, the sunsets, and the sun-kissed cheeks. Even though parenting shenanigans follow us wherever we go, I much prefer to be beachside.

Not just for the beauty, but for the way a getaway makes my soul feel. I hope our much-needed respite carries us until our next reprieve.

Do We Need to Wait for the Next Vacation?

I can’t help but wonder, must it be this way? Do we need to work and worry until we're hanging on for the next vacation? How do we keep that restful feeling when we return to real life?

What a gift it is to travel, spend time with family, and re-center oneself. The ocean calls me, yes—just like Moana—and I feel at peace, watching the deep water sway.

It makes me pause in awe; how the world goes on and my problems, although big to me, are not everything. They pale in comparison to the rising sun over the ocean and the moon that knows how to follow.

Nature’s Rhythms: Finding Calm in the Chaos

Nature gently reminds us that we are not in control of it all, so perhaps we need not hold on so tight. The world is vast, and we are a small connected part, which calms my soul.

A favorite verse is an antidote for a worried mind:

My hope for us this summer is to find small ways to remain at rest. Release worries that knot up in our belly and find more breathing room.

We are in great care. We need not toil, for we are indeed most precious. Though it’s easy to forget, we are the beloved treasures beneath our creator’s wings, and all it takes is a glance at our world to remember.

Embracing the Bigger Picture

Not everything is up to us. Some things are. But not all things.

The days turn, the children grow, the gray hair comes in, the flowers bloom, the stars are in their perfect place at night.

Let the spirit in you trust that whatever you are going through, whatever you hold tightly to, whatever makes you weary, it too shall pass. All will be well.

Mother Earth whispers shalom to us over and over. If only we can tuck it in our pocket for safekeeping. She reminds us we are not alone. We are made for love and connected to a much bigger picture.

May peace wash over you like waters on the shoreline, so you can keep a little vacation in your heart.

XO,
Jenna

Are you weary and need rest?

Consider what a small break or change of scenery might do to re-energize you.