Spring Break
For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. – 1 John 5:3-4
For the school district in Easter’s backyard, this is spring break week. Many of the families associated with our church have headed out on trips small and large to take a well-deserved adventure after not only a long winter, but two long years of having to stay close to home. My own family will do just that this week.
Any article about traveling with kids will tell you to try to keep to your usual routine even if you’re far from your usual schedule. Keeping to something like your regular meals, bedtimes, and chores can help give kids a sense of familiarity and comfort. There’s a little room for adaptation, of course, but staying close to expectations helps everyone feel a little more regulated during your vacation and can ease the readjustment back to real life at the end of the trip.
Might you consider the same for your faith routine? If our faith habits like prayer and worship are so important, why would they take a break for vacation? Could you teach your family (and even yourself) about new and lasting ways to engage faith by taking time during your trip to make your faith a priority? It’s not as hard as you might think and it might even be worth it.
One of the lasting side effects of the pandemic is the online accessibility of church life. Since this spring break week is during Lent, you have great options for worshiping with Easter online. You can either watch the usual weekly prerecorded service at easter.org/worship or you can watch the livestream of the midweek Lenten service at easter.org/bettertogether at the bottom of the page. You don’t have to worship at any set time; the prerecorded service goes live at 5 pm on Saturdays and is always available after, while the Lenten services are streamed live at 6:30 pm but can be watched for the next week.
The Lenten worship page also has a study guide based on that week’s theme. This week will be session 3. You don’t have to watch the worship service to use it, though. Or, you can use the weekly Grow Guide or Carry On Devotions by scrolling to the bottom of the main page at easter.org. Both options give you ways to talk about the Bible, faith, and Christian life.
And as long as you’re going to keep to something like your regular sleeping and eating schedule (I mean, you can try, right?) you can make sure prayer is a part of those routines. We often pray before meals and at bedtimes because it’s meaningful. Prayer before meals connects us to gratitude for God’s gifts and prayer before bedtime encourages reflection on God’s action throughout the day. But it’s also just easy to do. One of the best ways to add a prayer routine is to add prayer to something you do regularly anyway; keeping prayer close to sleeping and eating fits the bill.
So you can keep worship, devotion, and prayer close to your week even when you’re away from home. But one simple question can keep things as accessible as possible: “Where did you see God today?” If you’re waiting in a line or spending time in the car or even just winding down at the end of the day, it’s a simple question to get everyone thinking. Was it when someone gave you directions when you were lost? Was it when you saw a beautiful natural wonder? Was it just this moment, together, reflecting on your day? Asking the question gets you thinking about what God’s action in the world is like and gets you ready to see God at work in the future.
You absolutely need a vacation, but your faith doesn’t. I hope you find meaning in a full and active faith life today, tomorrow, next week, and all year.
Let us pray:
God, you have given us the gift of faith. Encourage and guide us as we see our faith at work everywhere we go. Help us to be people who follow you no matter where life takes us. Amen.