10 Travel-Tested Tips

Not long ago, I sat beside my granddaughter for our upcoming flight. With a sigh of personal defeat, I said, “Well, Sweetheart, I did it again. I over-packed.”

Without batting an eye, the adorable twelve-year-old looked squarely at me and said, “I over-packed, and I am proud of it.”

““I over-packed, and I am proud of it.””

— My Grandaughter

With my outburst of howling laughter, I marveled. Where was this self-accepting declaration when I needed it years ago? If only.

The scene of humiliation: My innermost beings lay strewn across the tile floor of the airport lobby. The check-in agent had declared my bag overweight, and the painful drama of purging commenced.

The subsequent slinging, flinging, shoving, and stuffing provided entertainment for curious onlookers. Some passengers offered unsolicited bits of advice as they stepped around me. Others glared. A few groaned with sympathy; none were helpful. In a race against the clock, I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath, “If I ever get out of this alive, it will NEVER happen again.”

Thankfully, that disastrous day is a distant memory. After wrestling my suitcase into submission, I managed to make that flight—and many more. Hence, after more than 50 years of travel, I confidently offer these 10 Travel-Tested Tips which hopefully, you find helpful.

1. Pray. Take charge. Don’t overthink; be decisive.

2. Start two days ahead and do your laundry first.

3. Put your suitcase in a separate room other than your bedroom. Place hanging clothes on a door rack to view your choices.

4. Pack in daylight, not at night. Begin by counting out underwear.

5. Use Eagle Creek packing cubes for categories.

6. Think simple, think solids.

7. Minimize shoes. Always take a dress.

8. Remove at least 2 items. Be realistic, but not ruthless. You do need clothes and supplies where you are going.

9. Place a versatile windbreaker and a small empty duffle in the outside pocket of your suitcase.

10. Take my advice and weigh bags at home.

Once the suitcase is zipped and loaded, you can pull up to the airport curb without a knot in your stomach. As the ticket agent smiles at you and says, “Place your luggage here on the scale,” you can confidently look her in the eye, knowing already that you made the cut. Bye-bye bag!

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

My author friend DiAnn Mills offers excellent advice in her recent post, How to Pack for the Perfect Vacation. Click this link to benefit from her experience.

Since you and I connect on multiple levels here, travel and packing are relevant topics. So, tell us,

What is your best packing tip?

Who Was Katherine von Bora?

Katherine von Bora*

1499-1552

“Katherine von Bora Luther left her indelible mark on history. She represented the new spirit of the Reformation, and played no small role in transferring the ideal of Christian service from the cloister to the home.”

— Edith Deen

Meet Katherine von Bora. She was born January 29, 1499, in Lippendorf, Germany, and she entered the convent at age nine. It seemed she would spend her life there and her identity would be that of a nun. The Reformation changed not only her eternal destiny but also changed the course of her life. She became a true follower of Jesus and married the courageous reformer, Martin Luther. He was forty-two, and she was twenty-five. Would the marriage last? “History records that the marriage not only succeeded, but set a high standard for Christian family life for centuries to come.”

“History records that the marriage not only succeeded, but set a high standard for Christian family life for centuries to come.”

— Edith Deen

Katherine cared for her prestigious husband and the bustling household, while also ministering to the needs of people all over Wittenberg, where they lived. She listened to their problems, gave them care and medicine in their sicknesses, counseled them in their sorrows, and advised them in their business affairs. The town recognized that the Luther household was an exemplary Christian home, and much of that success was due to Katherine.

“Martin Luther was generally cheerful and had faith in his God, yet occasionally he became moody. At such times, Katherine sought to comfort and encourage him. Once, when nothing seemed to raise Luther’s spirits, he decided to leave home for a few days to see if a change would help him, but he returned grieved in spirit.

On entering the house, he found his wife seated in the middle of the room, dressed in black, with a black cloth thrown over her head, and looking quite sad. A white handkerchief she held in her hand was damp, as if moistened with tears.

When Luther urged his wife to tell him what was the matter, she replied, ‘Only think, my dear doctor, the Lord in Heaven is dead, and this is the cause of my grief.’

“Only think, my dear doctor, the Lord in Heaven is dead, and this is the cause of my grief.”

— Katherine Luther

He laughed and said, ‘It is true, dear Kate; I am acting as if there was no God in Heaven.’” Luther’s melancholy left him.

None of her [Katherine’s] many sorrows was greater than the loss of her husband in 1546, twenty-one years after their marriage. He had gone to his native town of Eisleben in Saxony to settle disputes between the quarreling counts of Mansfield. Having suffered from ill health for ten years, he was not equal to the severe winter he had to endure there.

Katherine’s deep affection for her husband is expressed in this letter which she wrote to her sister soon after his death:

“Who would not be sorrowful and mourn for so noble a man as my dear lord, who served not only a single land, but the whole world? If I had a principality and an empire, it would never have cost me so much pain to lose them as I have now that our dear Lord God has taken from me, and not from me only, but from the whole world, this dear and precious man.”

“If I had a principality and an empire, it would never have cost me so much pain to lose them as I have now that our dear Lord God has taken from me, and not from me only, but from the whole world, this dear and precious man.”

”

— Katherine Luther

For new strength, Katherine Luther turned to Psalm 31: “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; . . . Deliver me in thy righteousness . . . Be thou my strong rock . . .” (vv. 1-2, KJV).

In 1552, the bubonic plague spread over Wittenberg, and the university was moved to Torgau. Katherine decided to seek refuge in this town to which she had journeyed to safety as a nun almost thirty years earlier. En route, the horses pulling the carriage in which she and her four children were riding became frightened. Anxious for her children’s safety, she jumped out of the fast-moving vehicle and tried to stop the horses, but she fell into a ditch of water.

“Anxious for her children’s safety, she jumped out of the fast-moving vehicle and tried to stop the horses, but she fell into a ditch of water. ”

— Great Women of The Christian Faith

This experience was too much for her gallant spirit. She soon developed bronchial trouble and for several months lay ill, comforting and sustaining herself by praying. She died on December 20, 1552, and joined her husband in their eternal heavenly home.

Katherine von Bora Luther left her indelible mark on history. “She represented the new spirit of the Reformation, and played no small role in transferring the ideal of Christian service from the cloister to the home.”

Note: This glimpse into Katherine’s life is gleaned from Great Women of the Christian Faith by Edith Deen.

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

"He has also set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11b).

What about this woman stands out to you?

If you could have a conversation with her, what would you like to ask?

What Should I Do?

The profound simplicity of this ancient poem offers timeless wisdom to answer the nagging question, “What should I do?”

Do the Next Thing

From an old English parsonage

down by the sea

There came in the twilight a

message for me;

Its quaint Saxon legend,

deeply engraven,

Hath, as it seems to me,

teaching from Heaven.

And on through the hours the

quiet words ring,

Like a low inspiration—

“DO THE NEXT THING.”

Many a questioning, many a fear,

Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment,

let down from Heaven,

Time, opportunity, guidance,

are given.

Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King,

Trust them with Jesus,

“DO THE NEXT THING.”

Do it immediately;

do it with prayer;

Do it reliantly, casting all care;

Do it with reverence,

tracing His Hand

Who placed it before thee with

earnest command.

Stayed on Omnipotence,

safe ‘neath His wing,

Leave all resultings,

“DO THE NEXT THING.”

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,

(Working or suffering)

be thy demeanor,

In His dear presence,

the rest of His calm,

The light of His countenance

be thy psalm.

Strong in His faithfulness,

praise and sing,

Then, as He beckons thee

“DO THE NEXT THING.”

- Author unknown

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23: 3).

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

What aspect of this poem stands out to you?

How could the admonition “Do the Next Thing” make a difference in the common feeling of being overwhelmed?