After a great break, I’m back at the computer. I’ve had such a wonderful time away and have been kept busy with all sorts of things.
Ten weeks and alot can happen…there seems to have been alot of ‘life’ going on in that time…babies being born, engagements, weddings, birthdays…and so on. I’m catching up with all this ‘news’ from people here, there and everywhere. Things which both contain drama as well as the normal routine of life. I hear from a friend who came home to find their house ablaze; others who are in hospital having surgery; a resignation; lawns that have grown even without rain; a new couple coming to YVV as Lead Pastor; things broken which I need to attend to; people moving to the ski fields and some have left overseas.
So while there’s an appreciation of feeling very relaxed and certainly refreshed, this first week has been very much full of ‘news’.
People have asked me what my highlights have been. I always answer ‘ah definitely a highlight was not having to work!’ To which I’m amazed that there’s been a diversity of reactions. Now I love to work and to be a part of all that involves. But what a gift to have the opportunity to experience time away assisting me to realign with a different rhythm. This has been so worthwhile.
I heard a great interview with Eugene Peterson (author of The Message Bible) about balance and rhthym verses living by schedule. He says rhythm is very much geared towards the individual and we don’t do it all in the same way. It has been a challenge, but a rich thing to learn more about that. Eugene talks about living out of who you are in relation to who Jesus is. We find it so hard to escape this scheduled world we live in.
Some people can walk in three-quarter time and some in four four time, like a dance. You have to find it out of your own body, your own life, your own history. Eugene says that for many of us, the place it begins is the Sabbath. In this interview, he talks about specifics of what that can look like. He shares with such a handle on reality…drawing in those of us who live with mobile phones, PDA’s, laptops and so on, and to those who live in the context of young families and all their needs. If you get a chance to go over to Catalyst Podcast, Episode 5.
There’s a lot of talk about how do we have longevity with this life of faith, without getting burnt out and running on our own resources. Right now, I’m aware of what it is like to be REfreshed, REconnected, REjuvinated, REignited, RElaxed and Really grateful that God gifted me with that time away.
Dialogue 