Is Fun a Major Value in My Life

 Do you enjoy spending your vacation traveling miles and miles visiting supporting churches and family instead of going camping, or doing something else fun?  This was the question someone asked me. Not quite in those words, but in the end that was what he wanted to know.

I do enjoy relaxing and having fun; but, having said that, I have rarely taken a vacation in the sense of going somewhere and spending several days or a whole week doing nothing but having fun.

Having grown up on the mission field, our vacations were spent visiting family and supporters. Because finances were always tight, this happened every three or four years.  The years in between these trips we didn’t have vacation. There was always so much to do that even taking time off every three or four years was hard to squeeze into my parent’s schedule.

I do remember that a few times, my parents splurged and took us somewhere for fun.  We did go out of the way one year to visit the Grand Canyon and the painted desert. One of my uncles did take us to Disney Land several times. Things like this, however, were few and far between.  Did we have fun? Definitely yes.  I got to see my grandparents and cousins.

Just after I turned twenty, I joined my parents working on the mission field.  I spent my summers in Mexico teaching and the school year at Prairie Bible college. Then after I got married, our vacations continued to be much the same as those of my childhood.  I now had a need to visit my supporters and supporting churches. Summers have been about the only available times for this because I teach at a Bible college and can’t get away during the school year.

It has been on this trip that I am currently making with my wife and three grandkids that someone asked me if I enjoy trips like the one I am making: visiting family, and supporting churches. By the end of this trip, we will have traveled about 8000 miles in two months.

My answer to the question was yes.  I enjoy reconnecting with family.  I also enjoy getting to know people in the different churches that support us. They are part of my family.  I feel like I have a definite advantage over most people.  I know more of my family in Christ than most Christians.

However, mulling over the question that I was asked, I realized that the answer in part has to do with what I value in my life. I do believe it is helpful and needful to rest and relax, but I also value family and above all investing my life for the furtherance of God’s kingdom. This means that even though it would be fun and great to take time off and just do something I would enjoy, I probably will first invest in that which I value, and if there is time left over, I will take time to have fun.

I see my visits to our supporting churches as a time to thank them for all they have done for us and, if possible, a way to influence people for Christ and His kingdom.  I see my visits to my family in the same light.  In the end, I am always encouraged on these trips by conversations with people in whom God is working out His will and in seeing what God is doing in different churches for the advancement of His kingdom.

What worries me is that we live in a culture that says we have a right to comfort, fun and relaxation. If anything tampers with that, it is wrong and bad.  It seems to me from my perspective that too many Christians have bought into this mentality.  Inordinate amounts of money are spent on “fun”, rest and relaxation.  They then kill themselves to pay for all this.  In the meantime, things of more value get sidelined.

If I am honest, it does hurt when on such trips as these people tell me, “Boy it has been ages since you came to see us.”  Well, the truth is I probably did not come sooner, because I was either busy on the field and couldn’t take time off, didn’t have the funds, or because I was visiting other family and churches (my family is spread out over the US and so are our supporting churches). Inwardly I also think, the miles from my house to yours are exactly the same, but I guess it is my duty to visit you since I am the missionary and you are making sure I stay on the field. Also, you don’t have time when you get vacation time from work.

Such thoughts do run through my head, and then I stop and think about what I am investing my life in, what I have seen, all the things I have gotten to see and know, and realize I have been so blessed.  I am doing exactly what I love to do and will continue doing it.

I have such a short life to live here on earth. I want to spend it on things that are of value will make a difference for eternity.

That being said, we are taking some time this time around to visit two of the national parks.  Praise God for the wonders in His creation.  I am mindful of the need to rest and to do things with my family that create great memories.