WOO HOO!!! Tomorrow morning, the Cooper family is departing for Spring Break vacation where we will be “off the grid” and totally focused on enjoying time with each other until March 21. My (Troy) father always said “vacation starts when we leave the driveway.” My parents passed on a legacy of enjoying family vacations together by traveling to new places (it is especially nice now that we live in Florida), enjoying adventures and eating delicious meals together. As a grown man (Troy again), for years I thought that the purpose of vacation was about my enjoyment. After all, I work hard and deserve this, right? Wrong. As the father of 6+ and the husband of 1, I eventually learned that family vacation was not about me–it is an opportunity for me to serve, learn about and enjoy my family. This takes WORK! I learned this and other practical/helpful ways to think about family vacation from a 3-part blog series by CJ Mahaney. He originally posted it in a 3-part series on the SGC Louisville Blog (see link below), but I have always wanted to see it in one document. CLICK HERE to view the entire Leadership + Vacation Series as a PDF.
If you are curious, here is the outline (Leadership + Vacation):
1. A Servant Heart
2. A Tone-Setting Attitude
3. An Awareness of Indwelling Sin
4. Studying Your Family
5. Skillful Surprises
6. Intentionally Together
7. Gratefulness to God
We would love to learn from ways you are intentional with your vacations! Let us know!
Click Here to read original 3-part “Leadership + Vacation” blog series.
Coopers On A Mission 
Interesting article but I’m not sure I agree with his first point about dad having to be exhausted at the end of the day. I have 4 boys and I want to model being a servant for them and it is also important to model rest. We all need rest and need to find ways to rest. God created us to need rest. I think of Eugene Peterson’s quote to the effect that Americans are in danger of “entertaining ourselves to death.” Many good things to think about here though. Thanks for posting and enjoy your vacation!