What I Did on My Summer Vacation

You know those essays you had to write the first week back to school in your elementary years...what you did on your summer vacation? Well, unlike the elementary school days when summer vacation lasted two and a half months, summer vacation was only a week this year, specifically, this past

week, and it was awesome! Here's what I did and what I learned...

- I went to Holden Beach, NC with Clark, Jacob, my parents, my sister, my brother-in-law, my nieces and my nephew (sometimes

the be

st vacations aren't about r&r, they're about the pure joy of spending time with the people you love, even when they're 6, 3, 2 and 17 months and have endless energy that starts before 6:30 every morning :)

- I surfed with a bogey board, a raft and just me - the raft got me the farthest (not sure that there's a deep life lesson here, just fact)

- We made homemade ice cream and I remembered being a kid and how long it would take for the ice cream to be finished and the almost unbearable anticipation. But, I also remembered how worth the wait homemade ice cream is (this one's obvious, folks, good things come to those who wait, Is. 40:31)

- my niece Liza and my mom re-taught me how to play "go fish" (when you need something, just ask - the worst someone can tell you is no, or go fish)

- the joy of the Lord should make you want to jump, jump, jump, move, move, move and raise the roof, roof, roof (my niece Ruthie learned this at VBS the week before comi

ng to the beach and spent every evening entertaining us by singing this song and dancing around the house - a not so subtle reminder to

live with joy)

- last year we found tons of awesome shells in the water, including multiple conch shells and whole sand dollars, this year I found none (you don't always get what you want)

- I exercised every day, ate twice as much as I usually eat and thoroughly enjoyed both activities (taste and see that the Lord is good, Ps. 34:8)

- there's so much more, but I'll stop for now - what did you do and what did you learn on your summer vacation, chime in and let me know...