Family Vacations

There are certain times in life when you are forced, because of shear stupidity or embarrassment, to look at the people around you and ask yourself, “Am I really supposed to be with them?” Very often in my life, these times have occurred during family vacations. The Griswalds had flawless trips when compared to the Grices, especially as we loaded up with two other families every summer to spend one week in Panama City Beach, Florida. There were always mishaps (usually incredibly funny ones), but a particular summer had more than was normal because of a twist that Mother Nature spun our way.

My parents owned two condominiums at Regency Towers and over the course of several years, our family became well acquainted with the family who rented jet skis in front of our complex. They were nice enough to take us out one morning free of charge. The sky was the best shade of blue and the water was as calm as I had ever seen it. We fed dolphins. We jumped each other’s waves. We pestered fishermen. We did all of this before lunch and were very hungry upon our return to land. As we made our way into our third floor condo and began making ham sandwiches, we turned on the television. The regular “Beach TV” programming was not available. Instead, there was a man sitting behind a table talking about evacuations for the approaching hurricane. Only 30 minutes earlier, we had been in the Gulf of Mexico where a category 2 hurricane would later make landfall. After talking with some of the locals, we all agreed that it would be best to stay beachfront and ride out the storm.

With precious little time before the hurricane was forecast to make landfall, our group rushed to the only store that was still open: Seven-Eleven. There was no discussion of what supplies should be purchased or who should find what. No, instead 15 people from Jasper, AL began collecting items that we individually thought would help us during this potential natural disaster. Had Jeff Foxworthy seen what we brought to the checkout line, we would now be a well-known part of his stand-up act. Some of the items included a Snickers bar, a pack of Skittles, a 1 liter Mountain Dew, earphones, and swimming goggles. The cashier told my mother, “Y’all are so lucky because we have one pack of batteries left,” to which my mom replied, “Do you think we’ll need those?” (she purchased the batteries only to find out later that we had no flashlight).

In all seriousness, I love my family very much, but sometimes I cannot help laughing at the things we do. No family is perfect. No parents can always keep from embarrassing their children. No children can always keep from embarrassing their parents. No grandparents can always keep from spoiling their grandchildren. We push each other’s buttons so much at times that we just want to keep our distance. However, we are still family. We still love each other unconditionally. That is the way a family works.

In his gospel, John writes that Jesus “came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13). All of us who have been born of God share the same lineage. We belong to the same family, God’s family. Like our biological families, the family of God is full of imperfect people whose actions often require us to extend a little extra grace. However, because we have not been born of blood, flesh or the will of man, we are counted as perfect beings who have been fully redeemed. The family of God is both imperfect and perfect at the same time. This extraordinary fellowship is possible only because of our Father in heaven who sets before us an example of the kind of love that we aught to give each other and who motivates us to share that love with the world.