Between scheduling some days off and getting all nostalgic in the last post, I began to think about the great summer vacations of yore...or yesteryear - either sounds like more idyllic times than the giant whirlwind that dominates my appointment book in the present. In fact, I can't think of the last time I even took a real summer vacation. I'm not talking a few days off here and there where I get things done around the house, or have guests - I mean the classic "get in your car, take a roadtrip and don't deal with the 'real world' for at least" a week kind. Ok, ok, I suppose the spring trip to Ireland a couple years ago could challenge that last statement, and maybe the fall cruise 6 years ago, but that was twice in the last 10 years (and technically they weren't "summer" vacations).

Any grand excursions in the past 10 years (minus Ireland & the cruise) have all revolved around my conference schedule. Going to San Francisco for a conference? Great! I'll take an extra day or two to see it. Vancouver, B.C., Orlando, Boston, New York, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago...all the same. Now don't get me wrong - it's a great way to get to see places and I loved the opportunities, but a vacation it is not.

Have we [and by we, I really mean "I"] gotten so busy that we forget that part of the greatness of life is to actually enjoy it? Working for the Church, it sometimes gets difficult to say no to things, even if they are meetings, because it all somehow feels innately important...as though by missing an opportunity, you are somehow slacking on God's time. Yet, we are not so important that God's work would not get done if we took a little time off. I mean, even HE rested on the 7th day! A friend of mine reminds me that the Church, and Christianity for that matter, will survive without me.

Now I don't intend to extend that to the notion that we don't need to respond to what God calls us to do. As tempting as it seems at times, a vacation from life is not so grand. Knowing me, I'd get terribly bored, in fact. The fact of the matter is this though - the reason we burn out is because we let the candle burn too long...sometimes at both ends! To better shine our light, perhaps we need to give ourselves some room to breathe, and let someone else carry the torch for a while. (I know, I know...that was just a horrifying string of mixed light/fire metaphors)

Needless to say, I haven't mastered yet the balance of giving my all while still making time for the little things in life...including laudry, cleaning and all that jazz. In fact, maybe passing the torch means realizing that I can't find time to do all the household tasks and hiring a cleaning service from time to time when my schedule gets a little nutty. Either way, something's gotta give, as they say, and I'd rather it not be my sanity!

So, rather than get frustrated about not having time to take off to do the things I need or want to do, I suppose I will one day learn to plan ahead and set my limits. After all, it may seem against my nature to not be available when people need to meet, but this girl wouldn't mind the sweet smell of a good old-fashioned, weeklong, get-away-from-the-world summer vacation, either!