Have you missed me? I've been quiet again...I know, it's been a while. The spring was...mmm...interesting. The summer has been busier than expected. And now, we're nearing the end of summer and that means my family ventures to the beach for vacation. And I have to be honest to myself and to you and say that sometimes I just don't feel that I have anything worth listening too. That's sad in a way. I identify that feeling in my life as being stale or just plain tired. I recently read a quote from Rick Warren about staying fresh in ministry, "Divert daily, Withdraw weekly, Abandon annually." Yes, this makes great sense to me. And here at the beach, I seem to get my bearings straightened out. It couldn't come at a better time. My wonderful boss sent me to an awesome conference and now my toes are on the white sand of Destin. Yes..... When you serve in a creative industry and you have to create every 7 days, tired comes easy. But let's look at this quote and see how it might help us to recover, get back on track, and get back at it. Ok?
DIVERT DAILY: I read this as spending time in the Word and prayer with my Creator. Daily diversion from the rat race, the grind stone, and I could think up 100 more cliches. HA! But this is solid truth. The source of my power and daily strength comes but from one place. In Christ Alone! How sad that I have to make time to divert. Life is really that busy isn't it? As soon as my feet hit the floor, I have family with needs. A cell phone that starts to ring. A computer with tons of emails to be answered. Meetings to attend. Oh, and let's not forget Facebook - got to check in with my 100's of peeps. :) But shouldn't the main priority be to DIVERT from all that could be a distraction to just spending time alone with my Maker. I've been learning that I really must do it all day long, as I go about the rat race. Thank you Lord for being in the mundane and every day with me. Next...
WITHDRAW WEEKLY: I think this could be as simple as really have a day off every week. Time away from the office, etc. But often for me, it means corporate worship. Now, worship is my work and I absolutely love it! There is no greater joy than watching people join in with you, to worship Our Father. I think both are a must! There must be a day that I just don't check my work email...as long as I can without being incredibly behind since Sunday is a comin'. But to gather together with the saints to corporately focus on the One who created us for Worship. YES...it must be done weekly. Even here in Destin, we took out the MacBook Pro and logged onto firsteuless.com and worshipped with our fellow saints in Texas, only we were all still in our PJ's. A nice treat to sleep in until 9:15 am and still get to watch worship. And it was heaven. Tears came to my eyes as I watched and listened to our precious choir sing "God is Here" this morning. And He was here...sitting on my heart...speaking to me. "Rest child. Now is the time to rest. I have much I need you to do, but right now, you need to rest." Thank you Lord for the still, quiet voice that speaks to my soul. Which brings me to #3...
ABANDON ANNUALLY: Ah... the beach. Even with a tropical storm brewing up in the gulf, we've traveled away from home to be together as a family and abandon the normal pace of life. Once a year. I tell people all the time that the beach is a must for me. That's not really true, but I sure do enjoy it. And the Lord blessed us this year to be able to make another trip to the beach. And let me tell you, we're staying in the BEST condo we've ever stayed in. Way to go honey! Can I get an "Amen!" And then the Lord spoke so softly to me this morning,..."Just rest". So, here I am...soaking up the sun (well, once the tropical storm passes over tomorrow), sitting on the sand, reading, resting, napping, cooking, laughing, celebrating, talking, praying, thinking, writing, looking, being abandoned to this I so needed.
There sure seems to be something to this quote. "Divert daily...Withdraw weekly...Abandon annually." I think I feel it working.
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