What Happens in Vegas isn't Just in Vegas

Brandon and I needed a vacation. Time away from the kids. Just us.
And a place where we could go but wouldn't feel guilty about leaving the kids at home.

First we looked into a cruise. But a friend talked us out of that.
Next we considered the beach. But comparatively, it's pretty pricey if you actually want to stay at the beach.
Then we thought about camping. Or Brandon did really. But I can go three days without showering in my own home. I don't need to go out to the woods to do that.
After getting some of those pesky airline emails though with insanely low flight prices, we settled on Vegas!

I know. Reeeaaaalllllllyyyyy weird, maybe.
People that don't gamble. drink alcohol. go to strip bars. or engage in extramarital affairs. Vegas? Really?


But it's a surprisingly cheap place to visit! So we booked it a couple months ago and made our parents reserve the weekend for babysitting.

And then the waiting game and guilt set in.

By guilt I mean that we probably should have just gone camping. Camping, comparatively, would have been A LOT cheaper. We could have packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and probably had a good time out in the wilderness.
As our Vegas Vacation loomed in the future, I began to see poverty stricken Haitians in the back of my mind. The fact that we were spending so much money on ourselves while others are barely surviving made me cringe. The weight of our "getaway" vacation began to make me sink into a guilt-ridden-I'm-such-a-spoiled-American mini-depression about needing time away from my kids.

Was it enough to make us cancel our trip to "Sin City?"
No.
Not that it's terrible to do something for yourself every now and then...this is just what kept replaying in my mind as I thought of us dining on crab leg buffets in Vegas.

So to the Luxor hotel we went.


3 days of childless bliss. (I did tear up as we were leaving the kids...this was the first time I've ever been away from them, with the exception of Salem's birth and leaving Eden at home for that!)

We walked around The Strip. The architecture of Vegas is incredible! The lights are seriously mesmerizing. We ate incredible buffets. Crepes topped with whipped cream to my heart's content. We people watched. We sat by the pool and didn't have to worry about any children drowning. I'm almost certain that Brandon was the only person out by the pool reading "Spirit-filled Preaching."


And the best part of The Strip is by far the Bellagio fountains. I could have watched those all day.
And so could all the people there with kids in tow.
It's hard to make fountains perverted. You can't put lingerie on fountains or strip them down to nearly nothing. Yes, the Bellagio fountains...the only family friendly area of The Las Vegas Strip.


I guess we were naive going in to Vegas. I guess we assumed the nickname of "Sin City" was a cute pet name.

It became very clear to us that it was indeed no joke. The most blatantly obvious "sin" was the intrusion of sex every.single.place.you.turned.  It was nearly unavoidable. Thus, the Bellagio fountains, became our favorite place.

Let me stand on my soapbox for a second. Men, if you are single, you should never. EVER. go there. Parents, don't let your sons go there. For that matter, your daughters either.
The parents that were walking around with 12 year old sons tagging along...I wanted to shake the ever loving googly out of them and give them a bandana for their son's eyes.

Again, I guess we were naive. But we were literally astounded by how the "Sin City" nickname and the "sins" of the city were flaunted about like they were proud of them.

Sunday morning we woke up and searched the sbc.org website for a church in the area that was affiliated with our "sending organization" (when we head back to the Big Chicken.) We wanted to be involved with the body of Christ in Vegas and get a glimpse of the ministries going on there.

We chose FBC of the Lakes. I'm going to be bold and say that I really feel that this church is the reason we went to Vegas. The moment we stepped out of the taxi and were greeted by the door greeter, who turns out was the pastor, we felt welcome. We felt a part of the body. We met people who I'm certain I could be bff with if I lived there.

After a short chat with the pastor, who concluded we were the most unusual Vegas vacationers he'd ever met, he found out we're affiliated with that cool organization who his church supports and he asked Brandon to share during his sermon time.
"WHA?!" I think that's what I said.  I felt weird. Unworthy.

And then about 2 minutes before Brandon was supposed to get up, the british pastor asked me to share my testimony.
even bigger "WHAT?!?!?!"
I think I cried a little. Some guy brought be some kleenex. So I guess I did.
Sharing with the body of Christ what God is doing in my life is humbling. It's scary. But it's needed. And it almost always makes me cry.

It went well though. Brandon spoke for about 20 minutes and he was very eloquent, humble, and I hope encouraging to the members of FBC of the Lakes. Their heart and vision for reaching their city is so apparent that it shines on their faces. Their task is daunting, to say the VERY least. But their determination and drive, fueled by Christ their Savior, was SO.INCREDIBLY.ENCOURAGING to us. They truly were the epitome of being light in a dark place.
Neon lights.

It was awesome to see Las Vegas from a "normal" person's perspective. To see that there are moms, dads, kids, grandparents, college students, etc...living in a place where us outsiders only normally envision The Strip when we think of their city. I admire them. I want to pray for them. Living in Las Vegas, in my opinion, would be by FAR harder than living in Chiner.

Because of our visit with them, and the incredibly generous lunch we shared with the Associate Pastor and his family, our eyes were opened a bit more to "Sin City."


The reality is that every city is Sin City.

              They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.  Psalm 14:3


Every city, town, neighborhood, and person is full of sin and in need of The Savior.
The difference is that for some reason, in Las Vegas it's more "obvious sins." (and for some reason, thought of as "acceptable sins" to commit in Vegas)

The sins of Vegas are Adultery. Pornography. Lust. Drunkenness.  To name a few.
And they are right. in. your. face. in Vegas.

But the sins of my city, your city, and every other city are the exact same. We just hide those sins better. The more obvious ones around here are greed. coveting.
Living in excess is what we're pros at. Having 3 tvs in our home. Buying new clothes when our "old" ones would do just fine. Making sure our kids have the best of toys. Or all of our rooms have a piece of furniture on every wall.

Please don't think I'm being all Judge Judy on you. Trust me, I'm guilty of all of this. Today. Now. I'm guilty of this.
      
             And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body, and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph. 2: 1-3

Praise the Lord that my sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ!
      
            But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. Eph. 2: 4-5



So we came home from Vegas being very encouraged.


Desiring to be filled with the Spirit every day.


Wanting to break the mold of our Gotta-Get-More selves.


Hoping to honor God with our finances.

We were able to be bold in sharing our faith like we haven't been able to in months. It's amazing how much conversation can take place with someone when there are no kids to distract. (and a captive audience of a taxi driver!)

We're glad to be home again. After a few days away, we have a renewed patience with Eden and Salem.

And maybe next time we need a vacation, we'll camp. Surely a camping blog post wouldn't be quite so long.