A "Trip Plan" for Busy Summer Days

Dear old "polka dot Bessie"
We call her polka dot Bessie in honor of her peeling paint "polka dots"!

About a month ago, we were given a challenge by our car as we were driving one day...our car's air conditioner decided to go out.  So now, everywhere we go, we all bring a bottle of water and Will and I prepare a "trip plan" that included frequent stops at places that are air conditioned so that none of us gets over heated.  


On Friday of this past week...our dear "old polka dot Bessie" decided to hand us another challenge.  It seems that our 1998 vehicle does not like the heat either and feels the need to overheat when we are out driving very long.  So again...we put together a plan.  This time to lengthen our cool off stops so that "old polka dot Bessie" has a chance to cool off as well.  She also reminds us that we need to stay home more during these extremely hot days and not run ourselves ragged.


Going through these challenges over the weekend got me to thinking...  


There are so many ways that I want to be able to bless my family each day, homemaking tasks I want to start or finish, homeschooling ideas that come to mind that need to be done, ways I want to bless my husband, meals that need to be prepared, errands that need to be run, games that I really should play with our children, the list can go on and on... 


If I am not careful I could get myself revved up and "overheated", break down and get stuck.


Just like we do for our dear 1998 "polka dot Bessie", I need to make a "trip plan" for my day that includes frequent stops for refreshment so that I don't get so over heated so that I don't have the strength, the patience, the wisdom or the brain cells to remember that its not about my plan but His that's important in these beautiful, busy summer days. 


It is in the midst of these days that I have to make a "trip plan" to take frequent stops for long slow drinks of the most satisfying Living Water...  


Refreshment that comes from time with God in His Word always satisfies!!!

 ³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  ³⁹ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.  John 7:37-39

Taking that long, cool drink of the Living Waters of His Word and His Spirit does more for me than any other form of refreshment can.


Dear "old, overheating Bessie" reminds me so much of how serious it can be to head out on my day without a "trip plan" in place so that I don't do too much and go too far without those precious breaks to refresh and cool down and allow God's Spirit to quench the thirst that only He can quench.    


It is those same Living Waters that will fill us to the point of overflowing so that His love, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, joy, patience, kindness and self-control can spill out into our marriages and our families(Galatians 5:22-23) instead of the things that can result from allowing myself to get "overheated". 


Question: What kind of "trip plan" do you have in place to refresh your spirit with the Living Waters of God during these busy days, so that you don't get overheated?  


Dancing with the Holy Spirit at the foot of the Cross,


Mrs Mary Joy Pershing