Our trip to the southwest was so memorable for many reasons but what made it stand out was intentionally inviting God into our day. Have you ever gone on a mission trip and experienced God at work in ways that expanded your faith? So much so, that when you got home, you were still processing everything you felt and experienced for weeks to come? That’s what I wanted this trip to feel like for our family. I wanted God's imprint on our hearts in ways we might not experience otherwise. As I prayed and thought about our upcoming time away and previous mission trip experiences, I saw a pattern that I could replicate.
- Focus our thoughts on how big and awesome God is.
- Anchor our activities alongside a biblical theme, which can help bring scripture to life. For example: viewing the night sky paired with verses about how, “we are to shine like stars'' etc. (I believe Jesus did this all the time in how he spoke to the people. He used everyday things to illustrate his point.)
- Reestablish our perspective that God is the same yesterday, today, and as we return to our normal schedules.
While on our trip, each person took a turn or two leading our evening debriefing times. We created space for spiritual conversations to occur and allowed our minds to marvel at God!
No doubt this takes prayer, time, forethought, and effort, but the value received in return is priceless! The conversations we had as a multigenerational family during this trip will forever be in my heart and mind. And I’m looking forward to planning our family’s next adventure together! Stay tuned in the months to come to see how it unfolds!
Bite-sized tip #4: Creating space within our trip to allow our minds to marvel at God's creation can increase our faith in memorable ways.