Perched upon breathtaking cliffs, my eyes searched the surroundings in disbelief. Pure waves of blue rolled below, occasionally showing off a white cap from time to time as if to remind the spectators it is, in fact, real. Our 20th anniversary trip to Santorini, Greece was more than we could have imagined we needed. The entire week I couldn’t stop thinking about this one fact, and I wonder if we might gain some perspective from it as we pray and seek to help those walking through incomprehensible pain these days.

It never ceases to surprise me that after our annual summer vacation to Colorado—despite yard work, laundry, and cooking for six—we return to our regular lives rested, refreshed, and restored.

So, it has me thinking maybe rest is found where we least expect it. Maybe it’s right where we forget to look for it.

After returning from a two week family trip overseas, I’m sharing all of my favorite tips, tricks, and gear to help you on your next family adventure. Check it out.

Chip and Joanna Gains have built an empire on the grounds of transformation. After a recent private tour of Magnolia in Waco, Texas, I was reminded that we all have a before and after story available to us. Here’s how.

It’s summer and this year more families are braving road trips than ever before.

Take a look at our family’s tips and tricks for a fun-filled journey. Before you get back on the road again…read this!

On a recent hike the questions kept coming. We sat as a family admiring the strength of this hardened magma and all I could think about is that this is the kind of foundation I want my life built upon.

This is the kind of foundation I want my kids to build their lives upon: a foundation that stands firm even when the sun is beating incessantly down upon their weary journeys. The kind of foundation that can still support when every comfort is stripped, every rational thought taken, every dollar lost. The kind of foundation that withstands erosion from the harshest storm.

As parents, we want vacations to matter. How do we balance our desire for rest with with our desire for memorable experiences? Those two goals may seem to be at odds with each other, so we are tempted to zone out as a parent and allow our children to zone out on their devices in order to create that peace.

May I encourage you to be intentional even in your rest?

I just returned from an incredibly dreamy, indulgent ten-day trip around France with my husband to celebrate 40 years of life and 15 years together, and then I came home. So, now what?

Have you ever explored the unceasing pleasures that can be found in someone who transcends the fleeting pleasures of earth? As beautiful and lovely and amazing as the things we experience here and now, there is someone infinitely more beautiful and lovely that never ceases. 

Each year after we say goodbye to the most life-giving two weeks of our year in Colorado, I ask myself the same question on our drive back to Texas: How can I add more of our rhythms at the cabin into our life rhythms at home?