It's been a week already???

Where did this last week go? I was all excited about getting back to church on November 4th and now it's the 12th and I am wondering where all those days went. Things started out great! I went down to the New England Conference School of Congregational Development "e3" event where I got to spend priceless time with some very good friends. The event was a huge success with over 320 registrants and some very good speakers. I got back home around 5pm on Saturday night and then was up at 5am to get to the church by 6am on the 4th. The worship team told me I only had to short letters to the church based on the 3 points of the Lilly Grant "Remembering the past, celebrating the present, adventuring the future" and then serve Communion, I could certainly handle that.

The two worship services went great (though I think I forgot how to talk on occasion - no comments please!) with Lisa and I serving Communion at both services. Rev. David Svenson, my friend and also District Superintendent attended the second worship service and helped to serve Communion. Immediately after the 2nd service we headed into Fellowship Hall for a wonderful meal prepared by a local caterer. The afternoon was filled with rest and then we headed to a friend's house to watch the Pat's whoop up on the Colts!!!!

At that point things get fuzzy. The first two days were about 14 hours in length and then they shrunk to 8-10 hours. Saturday was supposed to be my day off and I needed 1/2 of it to finish my work. Sunday morning came, I was back in the saddle and it felt good.

What interested me the most was my feeling about having to work on Saturday. Before my leave it would have been a part of my week and I'd take time later, no big deal. However, on Friday night, when I realized I was going to have to work on Saturday I got angry. That's a good thing for me!

Why? Because I have come to truly value my rest time. During the leave I came to enjoy the time I spent with my wife and having time completely away from work. I came to realize that putting down work and picking up the other parts of my life is good overall for my mental and physical health. I believe that when God rested on the 7th day it wasn't because the work was done but because God needed a break. Even though God is God, taking time away from the work of the day, the work of creation, or the work of anything else can give us a clearer perspective on that which is before us.

This past weekend I had the honor of working with a couple of friends as we put new brakes on one of our cars. At one point when things weren't fitting as they should, my friend got up and walked away for a few moments to collect his thoughts. He shortly returned and though things didn't fall immediately into place, he was more relaxed and open to other ideas. (I guess I must confess the rest of the story in that as the two of us got a little frustrated, the other friend came over, figured it, out and had the work done in very short order...We laughed about it, what more could we do? Besides, the third friend proved that sometimes a fresh set of eyes can change the view for everyone!)

It is vital that we take time off from our work. Whether we are ministers or teachers or doctors or home supervisors (is that the new word for those who work 80 hours at home without pay?) or custodians or factory workers, we must take time off. We must also guard it with great importance or it will be taken away from us.

I realize that it wasn't what happened on Friday afternoon that made me have to work on Saturday, because what I accomplished on that day was God's work indeed, but rather the planning for the whole week. We don't need to get so structured that we don't have time for spontaneity, but so we do need to make sure we consider our time of rest and renewal as important as the work we do.

We've only got one shot at this life on earth so it's important that we prioritize what we can acomplish and experience. How can we experience heaven on earth if we don't take time to care for ourselves and to spend time with those whom we love including God, family, and friends.

Oh well, it's Monday morning and I've got meetings until 9pm... But my day off is coming up!