What souvenirs do you bring back from vacation?
I like to stuff my suitcase with sweets from whatever place I’ve visited–who could say no to coconut-peanut butter from Maui or milk chocolates from Brussels?!
But, recently, I’ve started doing something else. If I see a church while on vacation, I go in and pray, for both the people I’m vacationing with and those back home. In fact, one of my nicest memories from my recent trip to Hawaii was stumbling upon a beautiful church in Lāhainā. Prayer surrounded by palm trees? Sign me up!
I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this–maybe you do too. For me, the idea was inspired by my mom’s best friend, Dale. They’re closer than friends, really. More like sisters. They’re both petite but very loud! They talk non-stop and share the same crazy sense of humor.
Back when I was 14 and undergoing some pretty scary medical stuff, my mom asked all her friends to pray extra hard for me. I had a benign cyst in my brain that had to be removed surgically. The operation was scheduled for August–the same week that Dale would be on vacation with her husband and some friends on a Mediterranean cruise. She offered to cancel the trip. My mom said, “Don’t be ridiculous! Just keep Diana in your prayers.”
Thankfully the surgery was a success. A few months later, my mom was at Dale’s birthday party and ran into an acquaintance–one of the friends who’d been on the cruise with Dale. They got to talking.
“You’ll never guess what Dale did on vacation,” the woman said. “Every time we stopped in a city and passed a church, Dale would go inside to pray and light a candle for Diana.”
In fact, at one church in Italy, Dale waited two hours in line to light a candle. My mom was floored. For one thing, Dale is Jewish. And Europe has no shortage of churches. That’s a lot of candles!
READ MORE: 5 WONDERS FOR HAWAII
Dale never told my mom what she did. But I have no doubt that her prayers helped work miracles in my life. As young as I was then, I could feel the strength of the prayers from friends and family surrounding me during that scary time. Like a force field of prayer protection.
So now, I like to vacation a la Dale, even if it’s just a quick prayer at a beach church (I stumbled upon another one along the Road to Hana).
Praying for people you love so far from home–there’s no souvenir like it!
How do you connect to God while on vacation? Share your story below!
