Reflections on the dozen days

Two weeks ago today, my family and I departed on our tour of the east coast. Well, not exactly.

The Wednesday we left, we headed down to Belpre, Ohio. I served at the Belpre Church of Christ before I moved to Rochester. It was good to see some old friends. It has been three years since we left Belpre and I really enjoyed seeing some people who were an important part of our life during our time there.

Thursday was our trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I spent a few days there and was blessed to perform the marriage ceremony for Anna Collier and Darin Sampson. I met Anna when she was in middle school. Her family used to attend the Amherst Church of Christ when they lived in Ohio. Amherst is where I started my full-time ministry work over nine years ago.

We really enjoyed our time in Hilton Head. In addition to the Collier family, we saw some other friends we knew from our days in the Mid-Ohio Valley.  We also made some new friends, including the family we stayed with while we were there. Matt and Martha are great people and their little girl is adorable.

When we left South Carolina on Sunday, we headed down to Walt Disney World. This was the first time Matthew had been there and Michelle and I had not been there in a few decades.

We spent Monday at EPCOT. It was a little rainy, but my awesome wife was prepared with ponchos and umbrellas. (I am glad we didn't have to spend over $20 to get WDW ponchos.) Even with the rain, we had a blast.

Tuesday was Animal Kingdom day. This is a smaller park, but still very enjoyable. We saw two great shows, another OK show, and rode Expedition Everest twice. Matthew loved the ride. (He has become quite the thrill ride connoisseur.)

On Wednesday, we ventured to Disney Hollywood Studios. Again, Matthew really enjoyed the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. To quote Matthew, "That was awesome!" We also enjoyed the shows, seeing Darth Vader in person, and the Toy Story ride. The Toy Story ride is new and has longer waits, but it's worth it. If you go, make the time to ride it!

We ended our week with two days in the Magic Kingdom. We needed two days to do everything Matthew wanted to do. From rides to shows, parades to fireworks, these were two action-packed days! Matthew was able to ride Space Mountain (twice!), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice!), Splash Mountain, and much more. He also got pictures with and autographs from a lot of characters all week. I could write pages and pages about these two days in the Magic Kingdom, but I know they were a great ending to the week.

I have a lot of great memories, but one of the things I brought home with me is Friday evening. It was about an hour before we had to leave the park and I was standing in line with Matthew to ride the Astro Orbiter ride one more time. As I stood there with my boy, it hit me. It hit me that this moment will never happen again. It hit me that Matthew will never be seven again. It hit me that every moment is precious.

I am a work-a-holic. Sometimes I am a recovering work-a-holic. Other times I have fallen off the wagon.

I was reminded this past week to make time for family. I was reminded this past week to protect time with family. All of the stuff in this world is just that...stuff. But time can never be replaced. Time is the most precious commodity we have and God used this trip to remind me that I have wasted far too much of that commodity in the past. I have a renewed passion to be more intentional about family time. It is the most important investment in the world.

shine!
Jason