Daily Devotion - Wednesday, July 28

A Time Away

“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven: …
a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
From Hebrew literature (Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 6)

In 1999 my wife, our children, their spouses and my wife's brother experienced our first family vacation together. We went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina; then the kids were planning weddings, now they’ve been married for a decade; at that time my brother-in-law was in the beginning stages of dealing with grief and loss.

Soon we will have another family vacation. Every time some of us are together, I think back to that first family vacation where we were working through mourning moments, where we were trying to find a way to dance. The verse from Ecclesiastes is true, friend. Mourning does turn to dancing!

Throughout that week eleven years ago, we honored each other’s needs. There was time spent in reflection and there was also time spent in party-like celebration. The same might be true as we gather for this vacation. Now, the grievers may be my daughter and son-in-law. Their oldest starts kindergarten in just a few weeks and they may be grieving that their “little girl” is growing up too fast! We will have to tell stories of her early years and adventures. The rhythm of the mourning/dancing time will again be part of our vacation. The family will become stronger because we took some time together.

May your day have a sense of balance as life unfolds for you. Have a good day.

A prayer for today: God of vacation, thank you for the gift of family. Amen.

--Ben Keckler
07.28.10

Daily Devotion - Tuesday, July 27

A Time Away

“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven: …
a time to search and a time to give up.”
From Hebrew literature (Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 6)

In September of 2003 my wife and I began to formulate a plan for our 2004 vacation. We dealt with “who, what, when, where, why, how much” questions. Since we wanted to spend some family time with our kids and their spouses, along with my wife’s brother, we first checked to see if they wanted to “party” together for a vacation. We proceeded to then talk about the additional questions.

Recently we've been putting together a trip with comparatively little planning. Just like the wisdom writer of old promised — there is a time to search and a time to give up. Now that there are grandkids, we've found the extended family doesn't have quite as much time to do extensive planning.

I am confident that the time will be good and that renewal will happen. As I trust the rhythms of life, I will have a refreshing time away. I trust that you will have a good week; I am certain that when vacation does start, the adventure will be most meaningful and memorable!

--Ben Keckler
07.27.10

Daily Devotion - Monday, June 8

Renewing Yourself

Last week I returned from a busy, busy vacation that was filled with a lot of family events in various places around the country. I came back to work tired because we had "played hard" with grandchildren, our children, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and even one of our surviving parents. I noticed two things on the first day of returning—

● while tired, I was rested, renewed and rejuvenated for the tasks I face each day at work.
● one of the first people I met at work was a hard working individual who hadn't had a vacation for quite a while. He needed rest, he needed renewal, he needed rejuvenation.

As most of you know, my primary faith tradition is Christianity. So, as I began my new week "back in the saddle," I remembered a Jesus story. The story was this: At one point when the crowds had demanded a great deal of his energy, he withdrew to a different place where he experienced renewal.

This is a season when many of us take vacations. Go, enjoy, play hard! Renewing yourself is important.

--Ben Keckler
06.08.09