Randy and I just returned from our beautiful Clearwater, Florida vacation. We are sad to be trading the sunshine and warm weather for cloudy skies and colder temps, but we are thankful the Lord blessed us with an incredible time to rest and recharge.

We were a little nervous about taking one week off work – if you know us, we don’t know how to sit still. When planning for this trip, I asked Randy what he wanted to do, and to my surprise, he said, “absolutely nothing.” So that’s exactly what we did!

Leading up to the trip, I prayed the Lord would bless us with His beauty. I wanted to sit back and marvel at His creation and that He would use this time to recharge us to continue to do His work when we returned home. I knew this trip would challenge me to let go of control and the desire to go-go-go, so I felt the need to slow down and be still in Him.

The Lord showed off in so many ways on this trip. I knew I needed to write them down and tuck them away as soon as we returned, so I always had them to reflect on. Here are a few ways we saw God show up on this trip!

True confession – I am terrified of flying. There is something about being crammed into a small seat, flying thousands of miles in the air, and hitting turbulence that does not do well with me. I have found that the root of my fear is a lack of control – ding, ding, ding! Perfect timing for God to go to work in my life. I really had to surrender that fear to the Lord this trip.

The joke my husband made on the way to the airport was about the poor person who had to sit next to me on the plane because when I get nervous or anxious, I talk to distract myself. We boarded the plane and took our seats. As I was strapping myself in, a sweet lady named Denise grabbed the seat next to me. Before I could even begin saying “hello,” she started introducing herself and asking questions about my life. I later found out during the plane ride that she was a retired high school principal who enjoyed working with the youth. It was the best plane ride I have ever had! God is good.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Isaiah 26:3

The Lord blessed us with some beautiful sunsets! We ate dinner with my parents while enjoying live music and yummy food. My mom enjoys taking pictures of sunsets, and I can only imagine how many pictures she has stored away on her phone. We had to add a couple more to her collection with these!

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Psalm 19:1 NIV

I marveled at the water’s beauty and the sand’s softness, and I was in awe of how God created things as large as the ocean and small as grains of sand. We took a road trip across the state of Florida to NASA, and I marveled at how vast, expansive, and limitless our God is. We even got to touch a moon rock that was dated to be 3.7 billion years old. It felt like I was touching the beginning of God’s creation!

“God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day.”

Genesis 1:16-19

The remainder of our vacation was spent sitting poolside, reading books, going for walks, and eating amazing food. The week went by so fast and we were sad to leave the beautiful warm weather. Until next time Florida! Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with this amazing vacation!