It would be SO nice!

Is it just me, or do holidays sometimes feel like an emergency stop?

I’m not sure if you’ve got time off this summer. I know lots of parents work during the holidays but most families seem to have some time off together during the summer months.

It’s a funny thing, when you’re working hard (either in paid work or unpaid), heading for a goal, like a holiday or the end of term. You pedal as fast as you can and then sometimes, when you’re allowed to stop, the change of pace is a shock to the system.

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I am truly grateful for the school holidays, especially as someone who works in a school. But this time around, I spent the first week of the holiday feeling utterly exhausted in every way. I was tired, yes, but also drained emotionally and spiritually. I was walking around in a fog. I felt sad. I was listless.

All those jobs I’ve been meaning to do ‘when I get the time’? Couldn’t bring myself to even begin.

I was wondering, ‘What’s wrong with me?’

I mean I’m aware I have answered my own question. I was exhausted. But sometimes it just seems unreasonable; unjustified; wrong.

So what can I do in this situation? Well, one thing I can rejoice in is this – please pay attention:

My feelings do not dictate reality.

I might feel hopeless, but I do have a Hope. I might feel lonely, but I have a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. I might feel useless, but God has me on this earth today to glorify him.

Our feelings go up and down. And of course, when we’ve been anticipating a holiday and thinking “everything will be simply marvellous when we get to Cornwall” there’s a chance it won’t quite be the way we expected. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s not so good. (Last year two of our kids got a vomiting bug at the beginning of our two-week holiday.)

When you’re completely exhausted, you might feel a bit wobbly. I’m not a rock. It shouldn’t surprise me when I’m all over the place. But it’s OK, because we have a Rock and his name is Jesus. You can still sing gospel truths to yourself and to your kids. And when your feelings pick up (which I do really hope they will), those truths will still be true.

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 95.1

I know a song about that, if it would help.

Happy holidays!