Road Trip

I was excited when Pastor Jim told me that I was going on vacation with Him and Sister Pat. He told me that the first day of vacation would be a “road trip” and that we would travel about 550 miles. Most the day would be spent riding in the SUV; and Sister Pat insisted that I ride in the back seat.


Things didn’t go as expected. Pastor Jim remembered that he had not put the license plate on the trailer after we had driven 30 miles in an extremely nasty storm. The frown on Sister Pat’s face expressed the deep disgust in Pastor’s Jim’s voice as they reluctantly turned around to head home for the license plate that had been stored in Pastor Jim’s “important stuff” draw since February. It was evident that my two hosts were not very happy about the delay; but to my surprise, both took it in stride and refused to let the error and delay encroach on their vacation spirits.

That day, after reaching our base camp and setting everything up, I approached Pastor Jim about the events earlier that day.

“Bear” he said, “I could have spit nails this morning when I remembered I hadn’t put this year’s tags on the camping trailer. (I knew that the phase “spit nails” was an expression Pastor Jim uses meaning he was really, really, really upset!) “But then I said to myself, what good is it going to do to get all upset? Being upset wasn’t going to change anything and I’ll just get everyone else upset.”

I didn’t say a word because I have seen Pastor Jim “spit nails”; and when Pastor Jim “spits nails”, everyone within two counties knew he was not happy.

Probably the look on my face caused Pastor Jim to explain. “I made a choice, Bear. Right then and there I made a good choice – a right choice. I chose to be happy and not to let that mistake or any other keep me from enjoying “our” vacation.

“So you can choose to be happy?” I asked.

“Yes Bear, you can choose to be happy or you can let the problems and mistakes that happen in life make you miserable. I don’t always make the “happy choice” but wouldn’t life and the world be much better if we all did?”

I thought on that for a moment and agreed with Pastor Jim – and that is the Bear Truth.

Bear Finds Home

I have always wanted a home; and when Pastor Jim and Sister Pat stopped at a nursery named the Enchanted Garden, I found a perfect house for me. It was scaled just to my size with all the room I would ever need. Even the landscaping was great.

I was ready to move in but Pastor Jim said it wasn’t a home. He said that home is where your heart is; and although this was fine house, it would never be a home because my heart would always be with my family. That is true. It is a nice house but it would be a lonely house without my family.

The Bible tells Christians that where their heart is there is also their treasurer. Since Pastor Jim’s and Sister Pat’s heart is with the Lord, they long for their home in heaven. But! While here on earth, the Lord has also given them His Spirit to dwell in them so that they can have a touch of home while doing the Lord’s work. Pastor Jim says the Holy Spirit is the assurance that some day they will be at home with the Lord.

I thought about what he said as we drove out of the Enchanted Garden sitting between Pastor Jim and Sister Pat. I am at home – sitting between the two people I love. Sister Pat must have been thinking the same as she reached over and patted me on the head. If heaven is greater than this then it truly must be a wonderful place – and that is the Bear Truth.

Capture the Wind

I was extremely curious at the strange contraption we found in one of the parks we visited recently on vacation. It caught Pastor Jim’s eye too. Pastor Jim said it was a windmill. He explained that in times past people used windmills to capture the power of the wind to grind gain and pump water. He also said that today they are building enormous modern windmills to produce electricity. (Have you ever notice how Pastor Jim produces a lot of wind explaining thing?)

I remembered a Sunday School lesson where Jesus explained to Nicodemus that the Holy Spirit is a lot like the wind. You can’t see the Spirit but you can feel its affects – and use its power. Perhaps each of us needs to become better windmills and tap the power of the Holy Spirit. And like a windmill we need to internalize that power and produce good works. And that is The Bear Truth.

Love “…seeketh not her own” I Cor 13:5

Sister Pat loves to quilt and anything that has the word quilt or quilting in it will catch her eye. So it wasn’t a complete surprise when Sister Pat announced that we were going on a road tour of the Quilt Gardens while on vacation. Because northeastern Indiana has a large population of Amish, the road trip was sprinkled with a large dash of black buggies and some super eating places. The gardens were neat, each one designed after a quilt pattern; but after the first few, I was ready to return home and maybe take a dip in the swimming pool. Of course, that didn’t happen.

Since I know that Pastor Jim’s idea of fun isn’t running around looking at different quilt patterns, I asked Pastor Jim why he was pampering Sister Pat so much on this vacation. Pastor Jim explained that love and marriage is not about seeking your own needs but about seeking the needs of your mate. He explained that being a pastor meant that often his time was spent meeting the needs of others and that he always devotes a lot of his vacation time to meeting only the needs of his wife. He said that makes for a happy mommy bear and happy mommy bears make for happy daddy bears.

I guess he knows what he is doing because Pat sure is a happy bear. Still, I became very tire of sitting in the gardens and fell asleep several times in the car as Sister Pat went into detail about each quilt pattern and every flower that was used. Pastor Jim just smiled and listened carefully as he drove to the next quilt garden. And, that is the Bear Truth.

Campfires, Rollercoasters, and Jet Planes

I asked Pastor Jim what was so great about vacation if you didn’t do anything exciting. I mean why didn’t we go mountain climbing or why didn’t we go ride the rollercoasters? What was so great about watching the sunset by a campfire and watching a sunrise with a strong cup of coffee?

He said that rollercoasters can be fun but that this vacation was about slowing down and giving attention to some of small wonders of life. For example, he pointed to the sky and a jet plane flying thousands of feet above us. “Bear,” he said, “We see these jets everyday but today I seen God at work in his church?” Now, I was confused. “Today, because I have slowed down and relaxed, I was able to marvel at all the different parts and pieces that make that plane fly so smoothly across the sky. The church is like that too. It takes all the members doing as God gifted them to keep the church moving smoothly.”

I had to think on that for a minute or two as we watched the plane disappear into the clouds. The church should work as smoothly as a jet flying across the sky and all her members must function in unity. And that is the Bear Truth.

Let the Vacation Begin

Usually on Monday mornings, when school is not in, Sister Pat moves slowly allowing her coffee to take full affect; but this Monday was different. It was vacation time! This is when Pastor Jim and Sister Pat throw things into a suitcase and then spend the next few hours questioning each other if they remembered this-or-that. I wasn’t counting but I believe the “I forgot” out numbered the “I remembered”.

We spent the next few hours traveling on unfamiliar roads and going through many towns and cities. One city, named Gas City, caught my attention. I couldn’t think of why anyone would want to live in a town called Gas City. Every time Pastor Jim has gas, we have to roll the windows down in the car.

We arrived at a campground and made camp in a cabins. Each cabin was closer than any of Pastor Jim’s neighbors but that didn’t matter because Pastor Jim said we were getting away. The campground was only a few miles for a town called Middlebury. It claimed to be the Mayberry of Indiana and Pastor Jim and Sister Pat needed a little Mayberry time.

The remainder of day was pleasant. As the day gave way to night; all were very weary but relaxed. The last thing I heard Pastor Jim pray before falling asleep was, “Let the vacation begin” I guess the vacation has began. You can be sure I will share the lessons learned on this vacation – And that is the Bear Truth.

Vacation Witticisms

“Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer.”

“On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.” -Erma Bombeck

“A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort and remembered with nostalgia”

Babies don't need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I'll go over to them and say, 'What are you doing here, you've never worked a day in your life!'. -- Stephen Wright

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. -- Elbert Hubbard