Leadership Tips & Training A Respite for Leaders

June conjures up in our minds a longing to go on an extended vacation. The school year is over for our children; Mother’s Day has come and gone, and graduation celebrations are all but a memory as we face a long, hot summer. After all of the activity of May, a vacation is just what we need!

Knowing that the topic for our June newsletter was “vacation,” I looked to the dictionary for inspiration. As I flipped through the pages of my dictionary, I stumbled on the definition for vacation. The word vacation is derived from a Latin word meaning freedom. The dictionary went on to explain that a synonym for vacation is respite. Respite means an interval of rest or relief; a period of temporary delay. A vacation then, is a temporary delay or freedom from a usual responsibility.

As I pondered this information, a First Place memory verse popped into my head: 1 Corinthians 6:12, “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” On a vacation we feel that we have the freedom to take a rest from all of life, including the disciplines that we have established in our lives as a result of First Place. Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water?” Although we have the freedom to rest from many of our daily tasks and duties while on vacation, we still must not throw all the discipline out with the other non-essentials of life.

Two years ago I went on a vacation in Arizona. Actually, I went to Arizona to watch my daughter compete in a basketball tournament, but took vacation time from work to attend. I looked forward to sleeping in, lying out by the swimming pool and eating out all my meals, which meant I wouldn’t have to cook! You see, I was free from the dailyness of an alarm clock waking me up, from cooking meals each day, and from going to an office to work. However, I knew that if I allowed this vacation mindset to take over everything in my life, I would pay later for my mismanaged vacation. How did I take a vacation and still maintain my physical and spiritual disciplines? I decided to pretend I was going to a health spa for my vacation. Each day I would visit their workout room and as I walked on the treadmill, I reviewed my memory verses. As I lay by the pool, I had my devotions and when I went out to eat, my goal was to make wise and healthy choices. I even read a health/fitness book during the vacation to motivate myself to make wise choices physically.

There is an acrostic that may help you and your members to stay on track even though you are on vacation. It helped me in Arizona and I pray it will help you wherever you decide to vacation this June.

How to have a First Place Vacation:

Value your freedom and use it wisely!
Allow yourself to really rest.
Continue to grow spiritually and physically.
Ask God to join you on your vacation!
Take time for yourself – exercise, study, and rest.
Imagine yourself at a health spa even when staying at the Comfort Inn.
Order from the light selections when eating out.
Nourish your mind, body, soul, and spirit each day of vacation.

The vacationing leader who takes a true First Place vacation will come back to their members refueled, refocused, and ready to lead again. Remember that the vacation is a short rest from your leadership and not a long retirement from the vital role of leading others to place Christ first in every part of their life – even during vacation!

Here’s to a Healthy Vacation!

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director



Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.