Summer trips offer chance to be family

Thirty years ago I read a book that started a family tradition.

The book stressed the importance of families being together in the outdoors citing data that nature improves children’s mental, physical and emotional health. Enough said!

While many already knew this valuable information, it was new to me so without further research, my husband and I loaded up 18 month-old twins, a 3, 5 and 7 year old and headed west to the beautiful Black Hills to build beautiful memories of quality family time in God’s serene creation. I’m grateful for the pictures we took that first summer as my memory is fuzzy outside of the temptation to turn around and head home before we reached the I-90 West ramp — given the crying babies and squabbling toddlers.

However, I figured if Noah made it forty days and forty nights on a boat with his family plus two of every animal, we could make it with seven in a mini-van and three nights in a small cabin.

As I look back, I realize our family vacations have never been just about the destination. They’ve been about the journey. That realization caused me to think about families we encounter in scripture and while never describing “family vacation” in the way we understand it today, it is filled with families who traveled together.

Each year, faithful Jewish families made pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

These weren’t leisurely trips; they required planning, sacrifice, and days of walking. Entire communities traveled together, singing the Psalms of Ascent as they approached the holy city. Parents taught their children why they celebrated Passover, Pentecost and the Festival of Booths. Along dusty roads, faith was passed from one generation to the next.

Perhaps the best-known family journey in the New Testament comes in Luke’s Gospel when twelve-year-old Jesus traveled with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for Passover. On their return trip, they discovered Jesus was missing and hurried back to find him in the temple. It’s a story that reminds every parent that family trips don’t always go exactly as planned.

Children who once asked, “Are we there yet?” are now adults with children of their own who help plan the itinerary and meals. Stories grow richer with each retelling. Pictures capture smiling faces, but they can never fully preserve the conversations around the campfire, the unexpected detours or the simple gift of uninterrupted time together.

In today’s world, where schedules are crowded with electronic devices constantly competing for our attention, family vacations offer something increasingly rare: the opportunity to simply be together.

Meals linger a little longer. Conversations deepen. Families rediscover one another outside the routines of work, school, and endless activities.

The data I discovered thirty years ago consistently supports what many people know intuitively. Shared experiences strengthen relationships, reduce stress, improve communication, and create memories children carry into adulthood. While souvenirs collect dust, shared adventures become part of a family’s story.

The biblical journeys served much the same purpose. They reminded God’s people where they had come from, whose they were, and where they were going. I imagine that along the road, children learned the stories of God’s faithfulness — not simply from reading them, but by experiencing them alongside their parents and grandparents. God’s people have always been travelers.

Every vacation has left me with stories, pictures and a different perspective. Biblical journeys often ended with people changed: The Magi returned home “by another road.” The disciples returned from mission with joy. The Emmaus disciples hurried back to Jerusalem after recognizing the risen Christ. A good journey doesn’t simply take us somewhere; it brings us back different.

God often met people while they were on the move. Family vacations become treasured memories because they invite us to slow down, leave the familiar behind, and rediscover one another—and, if we are attentive, to rediscover the God who journeys with us wherever the road leads.

Next week my family will embark on its thirtieth adventure to the Black Hills savoring God’s creation and acknowledging that rest is holy.

We’ve outgrown our mini-van and the little cabin we first enjoyed since our family has grown. However the truth I gleaned all those years ago remains: families are shaped not only by where they go, but by how they travel the road of life together as God travels with them.

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” (Mark 6: 31)