When Your Vacation Gets Hijacked

By Laura Rath

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

Last month, my daughter and I planned a short vacation to visit family. We planned carefully, packed the car, and looked forward to getting away for a few days. Although it’s a long drive, we enjoyed our trip and arrived at our destination on time.

We made plans of places to go and things to do for the following days, and went to bed that first night in anticipation.

And then…

…a stomach virus hijacked our vacation. We had hoped it was just a 24-hour bug, but instead, all of our plans changed to accommodate this unwelcomed virus party crasher. There wasn’t anything we could do but wait it out.

I guess I could have been frustrated, but it was no one’s fault. It was just one of those things. And I couldn’t be upset while my daughter felt so miserable.

So…I looked at the situation from a different perspective—one of thankfulness.

I was thankful that I could be there to take care of her. Even though she’s not so little anymore, she’s still my little girl. I couldn’t make her feel better, but I could sit with her to keep her company.

I was thankful for praying friends. As soon as I knew how bad it was, I emailed these prayer warriors, and they didn’t let me down. They prayed and kept checking in to see how we were doing, and when we might be able to drive back home. Their support kept me going, especially when lack of sleep was taking its toll.

I was thankful no one else got sick. I knew that if the virus had also attacked me, it would’ve been a real struggle to give my daughter my full attention. I was also thankful we were staying with family and not stuck in a hotel, but still, I was relieved we hadn’t spread it to other family members.

Eventually, she felt well enough for us to drive home, but less than 30 minutes after leaving, we drove into one heck of a storm. So, we turned around and went back. All I could do was laugh. It stormed most of the day, so we stayed another night.

As it turned out, this gave us an extra day to visit with family, and I’m thankful for that. It had been a long week, and I joked about it being the vacation that wouldn’t end, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Our vacation turned out to be nothing like we had planned, but I couldn’t help but be thankful anyway. And…there’s always next year.

How do you react when something causes your plans to change unexpectedly? Are you able to change your perspective and look at the situation from a thankfulness point-of-view?

Laura Rath writes to encourage women in their walk with Christ. She is a wife, mother, writer, blogger and works in church ministry. Laura shares stories of her faith journey on her blog Laura Rath ~ Journey in Faith, and recently experienced one of her God-sized dreams when she had the opportunity to speak at three women’s events, with another one planned for later this year. Laura is a regular contributor at LifeLetter Café, and can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.