How To Conduct A Working Vacation

First of all, we wanted an affordable, quiet, comfortable (yet stimulating) place to stay. Check. We've got that with a lovely two-bedroom condo at  Eagle's Nest Resort just south of Silver Dollar City (Branson) in southwest Missouri. We're on the third floor with a balcony which overlooks the forest along the shore of Table Rock Lake. It's quite beautiful and serene, especially on a cool rainy day like today. The autumn colors of the trees are stunning and they make for a perfect backdrop for blogging, writing, reading, talking, listening to music, sipping tea and coffee, playing a few hands of gin rummy, and so on.

An effective working vacation for us also involves a good balance of work, rest, reflection, reading and recreation. We are only into it a few days but so far that balance has been pretty good. In fact, here's the breakdown for the last couple of days:

Work projects thus far: A) My regular activity on Vital Signs Blog which includes cross-posting on Facebook and other sites. B) My creating a new blog for Nebraskans Against Planned Parenthood. C) Claire's working on Vital Signs finances. D) Claire's learning how to use our new phones.

Rest, reflection and reading thus far: We're getting up early. We do this even on vacations -- don't want to waste any time, I guess -- but our pace is pretty casual. A) The trip down here on Tuesday was great. Wonderful conversation and listening to the tunes of the 40s, 50s and 60s via the rented Ford's satellite radio.  B) We have a long tradition whenever we're in Kansas City of eating lunch at the original Arthur Bryant's barbecue restaurant. Well, we decided to try Gates instead this time around. Bad move. Sorry, Arthur. We've learned our lesson. C) I found a nice walking trail that goes down to the lake and I spent a nice time in prayer there yesterday. I made it back home just before the rain came again! D) Claire finished Kelly Rosati's book, Wait No More: One Family's Amazing Adoption Journey while I've started on a re-reading of the C.S. Lewis Narnia series.

Recreation thus far: Besides walking yesterday, grocery shopping and a couple hours' drive around the Branson area, we haven't done much. We're undecided about booking into any of the shows but there's a couple we're thinking about. This afternoon, we'll head down to Branson Landing where Claire can do a little window shopping while I sit around doing a bit of Vital Signs planning at a coffee shop. We may eat somewhere down there or come back and fix hot dogs and chili here at the condo. Then more reading, more music, more lovely time together.

We'll keep you posted as we go. Prayers for God's guidance as we seek His agenda for the next stages of ministry are greatly appreciated.