Did you know God gave us 52 vacation days a year?
As a parent, I’d tell you I don’t ever get to take a vacation. When my husband said, he was taking a “vacation day” from work, I’d snort. What was that? Seriously, I was envious he could request a “day off.” He’d earned them.
Many times, we find ourselves in jobs that don’t provide us with opportunities for vacation.
Vacation? What is a vacation? You may ask. You might even be laughing right now.
For most of us, a vacation is time where we don’t have to work, or study, or any other required activity. We can rest. These are golden days, saved and preserved, due to their rarity. Many of us must work for an employer for at least a year before we are given time off for a vacation. Even then, those days earned are few. Like the finest of wines, we preserve them for the right occasion and savor them down to the last minute.
Today is my day off. I try to take at least one day a week from my regular job and relax. While the duties of our household are unavoidable, I read a book between loads of laundry, pick up a favorite craft project to pass the afternoon, visit a friend, or enjoy spending a day at home.
No one had to give me permission to take a day off once a week. God created the world in six days and on the seventh he rested. If God can appoint one day a week to rest, then so can we. After all, there are 52 seventh days a year set aside for us.
What will you do with yours?
photo credit: creative commons Matthew Baron
My life changed dramatically after my recurrent cancer diagnosis- I usually worked two jobs my entire life – the busier the better. Now that I am on disability and in treatment I work around the home (slowly) with light chores and preparing small meals for my spouse and I. A vacation day means one where my body says “nope, nothing going on today” – and I rest, read devotionals and listen to my iPod.