“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:45
Theoretically, a trip to the beach sounds delightful and relaxing. When factoring in the volatile elements of three children five and under, a lot of time in a car and leftover hurricane rains, the vacation transforms into an adventure with obstacles to surmount and quick beautiful views. So in reality our trip to Saint Simons Island featured many highs and lows, as changing as the quick rainstorms we experienced as least once a day during our five day four night stay. Let’s briefly describe sequentially events in a “bad news” and “good news” format:
The bad news is the lovely three story home furnished professionally in a southern modern chic style featured only enough bedrooms for us, my parents and sisters but the good news is my sons slept in a tent on the porch for a unique experience.
The bad news is the townhouse rested on the northern end of the island thirty minutes from the beach at southern end but the good news is a neighborhood pool allowed neater swimming opportunities.
The bad news is a sharp stinging rain interrupted our attempted beach day with wet towels and sticky sand all over us, but the good news our oldest enjoyed boogie boarding prior to the storm on the sea.
The bad news is the local playground and botanical garden proved small and lackluster but the good news is the local historic fort nearby provided us with interesting cannons and sea-shell wall ruins.
The bad news is the local water park was closed due to rain but the good news is we could still climb the 129 steps up to the top of the local Saint Simon’s lighthouse and visit the interactive WWII museum.
The bad news is the restaurant we wanted for lunch had an hour wait time but the good news is a local bbq and bar joint provided a quick and fun eating experience complete with weathered turquoise blue picnic benches for a rustic and relaxed vibe.
The bad news is our youngest had a poop blowout all over her car seat but the good news is had access to washer and dryer to deal with the mess.
The bad news is my poor husband experienced food poisoning at our early anniversary dinner but the good news we enjoyed steak and seafood after attending a quiet mass without littles.
So with plenty of bad and good news vacationing transformed into venturing. So afterwards the stories of Saint Simons felt cozier wrapped up in the comforts of home with the boring ease of normalcy. One needs to shake up routines and embrace storms in order to retreat back into rhythms and shelter.
So when vacationing lacks the desired relaxing, take an RNR
REFRAME: a beach vacation transforms more into an island adventure with more museum and pool time than sand play time. Complaints about “I want to go home” is the discomfort of growing pains with adjusting to new situations. Traffic jams away from the raining beach provides an opportunity to atone for moments of impatience and time for listening to interesting podcasts or to sing along to favorite songs.
RELEASE: change of plans due to the chaos of people or fickle weather demonstrate lack of control. So letting go of expectations and embracing the experience- the flow of the day, like all the Spanish moss clinging to yet swaying with its live oak branches quaking, actually allows for true internal RNR (REST and RELAXATION).
So for the concluding RESPONSE- a venturing vacation with some RNR (reframing and releasing) reveals revelations: less car distance and less driving (so on beach locations) better suits my family in this younger season of life and we aren’t the frequent big trip type but the more rooted and rhythmic family.
To all my parents traveling this summer- happy venturing , may you embrace the RNR through all your bad news and good news experiences.
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