Keeping it real...

My family just returned from 10 days in southern California.  We spent a few days at the beach, experienced tide pools, drove through LA, spent some time in Hollywood, and hit both Sea World and Disneyland.  A wonderful trip - made possible by the good people at Long Beach CRC who asked me to come and preach, teach, and do some youth ministry stuff.  We knew about the trip for a while - back in April already... so of course we started planning and envisioning the ideal vacation...

The first few days our 10 month old wouldn't quit fussing.  Our kids, tired from the long day of flying, fought terribly.  Things started to get better by Sunday... until my wife noticed our son didn't look so good.  All through the night he... I'll spare you.  We started out for sea world on Monday not knowing if we would actually go... we did... and he only got sick once, in the aquarium, into the garbage can.  By Tuesday night he was feeling better... but now our daughter was complaining of the "tummy ache".  (By the end of the trip those two words made me sick...)  Sure enough, all night long... and for good measure my son joined in one final time.  The Disneyland portion of our trip would be postponed.  Instead we drove through LA, Beverly Hills, and looked around Hollywood - things our kids really didn't care that much about.  By the next morning everyone was feeling better - and Disneyland went well.  We survived.

What's my point?  So often we long for the "ideal".  Believe me - in my mind our vacation went much differently.  No sunburns, no sickness, no fighting or crying... just kids frolicking through the sand, the skies parting, and rays of light shining down in heavenly bliss.  How boring! Don't get me wrong, there were a few moments when in my mind I had my wife and kids on a plane back to Sioux Center... and I know my wife did too.  But as we look back on the trip, a few memories stick out.  The beauty of the ocean, the euphoria of our daughter meeting Ariel and asking her about breathing under water... and my wife pouring out a bowl of my daughter's vomit along the expressway in the heart of Los Angeles.

I admit - and my wife will tell you - I am always idealizing the way such trips should go.  Hallmark moments in my mind...  But they never go the way I want them to, and I'm starting to figure out that's ok.  If only we quit chasing after these ideal moments, we wouldn't miss out on the real ones... and that's where memories are made.