As parents, we need mental and spiritual breaks from our sometimes chaotic routines. As summer approaches, family vacations might offer one of those breaks.

Vacations offer us a break from our normal schedules. They offer adventures that divert us from everyday struggles and great moments for family bonding—like getting lost or discovering wildlife.

More than 90% of parents plan to take a family vacation with their children in the next year, according to a 2025 NYU family travel survey.

For the vast majority of us, though, making travel plans is stressful and finances present a challenge.

A 2025 Talker Research survey by travel toy company Yoto found parents on average take about two and a half days to recover from the stress of a family trip.

There must be another way.

There is.

God’s Word offers daily (and nightly) mental and spiritual breaks, through meditation in and on his creation. We need only look up from our work.

Jesus’ disciple Paul encourages us to meditate.

In Philippians 4:8, he says, “[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

God’s creation is lovely, commendable, of excellence, and worthy of praise in God’s name.

Meditation on God’s creation gives us an immediate break from mental and spiritual toils. It shifts our thoughts from the immediate, stressful details of our life, and importantly, it replaces them with observations of truth that relax us and put us at ease.

The beauty of a sunrise reminds me God is good. The view of a thunderstorm reminds me God is powerful. The design of a flower reminds me God has a plan. The shifting clouds remind me God is moving. The night sky reminds me God is carrying us through space and time. Shade from the sun reminds me God has made a place for me.

God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:20).

Jesus often retreated to beautiful, local natural settings to break from his demanding ministry, connect with God, and receive restoration.

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray. (Matthew 14:23). To pray in preparation for the cross, Jesus “came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.” (Luke 22:39). (The Garden of Gethsemane is at the foot of this mount.)

Through God’s creation, he offers us ready access to a moment of true renewal—if we’ll look up and out.