Like most hard-working Americans, I am allotted two weeks of vacation each year. With two tiny tots in tow, pulling off a huge trip is not appealing. Even with my new stylin' minivan, it would be difficult to relax going anywhere with my three year old and my four month old.

Plus, my pocketbook was ravaged by a five day, four night, anniversary excursion to NYC last December with my bride of five years. So it's going to be a while before we take our next "big trip."

With few options of places to go, I decided to take my first stay-cation--don't go into the office and don't go anywhere else. Be home. Be still. Be rejuvenated.

So far, so good. I'm three days in and my staycation has been very relaxed. I don't do anything I don't want to do. I've cleaned out my daughter's playroom, added an attractive toy kitchen set to the decor, am cautiously considering the purchase of a treadmill (I need somewhere to stack stuff), and have purged a lot of stuff out of our home office. I've watched the Men's Gymnastics team win a surprising bronze and the Women's Gymnastics team claim a disappointing silver. I've watched more water polo (5 minutes) than I have in my entire life, and I've started putting my old baseball cards--even the real cheapies--into plastic sleeves.

I've spent a lot of time with my family--at the park, reading the paper at home, over meals, we're planning a trip to the zoo tomorrow--which has been great.

I've done nothing work related.

At the end of the week, I'll be ready to go back. The toy kitchen will be set up and the office will be clean and my garage will be more organized and I'll have seen the rhinos and hippos and tigers at the zoo. Besides, I love writing lessons and planning outreach events and being around my fellow ministers. I love what I do.

It's just sometimes, at least once a year for a week or so, I love not doing it.