Looking back over the past 8 weeks I’m really grateful that I had an opportunity to do this. It was refreshing and energizing in both small and significant ways.
The first few weeks I completed small projects around the house that have needed attention for quite some time. It’s nice to enter the house now and not have to think about getting those things done “when I have some time”. I made sure to make time for reading and relaxing as well that first month. I finished the book Blue Like Jazz. Nice read overall. I also got into Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, Bob Goff’s Love Does and a book called The Rest of God which focuses on sabbatical and sabbath.
I also got to spend a good amount of time with my kids. Whether it was watching soccer games, cheering them on, playing in the yard any evening of the week or making pancakes on Sunday mornings I mostly enjoyed it. I mean they always find a way to fight about something which distracts from the amazing memorable moment at hand (sarcasm intended), but that’s normal and I expect it, so it is what it is.
I also visited 3 different churches in the area. They were great and it was nice to see what they are doing. I wish that I could say I just rested in their Sunday morning ministries but I noticed too many things that I liked, didn’t prefer, or wanted to try when I got back. So, while not a super worshipful time, it was quite useful.
The second month was even better. I had a decent rhythm by then of morning walks with Alissa, most of the projects were finished and Quinn, our 2 month old, warmed to me as someone who she could hang out with for more than 2 minutes at a time. I’m still waiting for that 10 minute barrier to be broken.
In early July I visited Pacem In Terris. 45 minutes north of Minneapolis in a wooded area complete with candle lit nights and deer fly infested days I rested in the embrace of silence and an unpopulated to-do list. The Spirit spoke softly through the rustling of leaves, clacking of tree branches and the footsteps of mysterious creatures just outside my window.
I experienced the slowness of a mind cleansed of the imprint of digital pixels. I found myself grateful and nearly gleeful at every breeze. Buggy and muggy as it was in the day, the evenings brought shade, cooler temperatures, decaf coffee and slow deep breaths as I reveled in the technology of a screened-in porch. During the day as I sat in my chair, I recognized that even though I was looking at the same trees and branches for those three days they were never the same.
Every moment, the sunlight was hitting the leaves from a different angle as it moved across the sky and then the next day, the branches had grown, if only a tiny bit, and the earth was nodding and tilting just a bit more away from the summer solstice. Every leaf on every tree experienced the sun in a new way every single day.
The last week or so of July I found I was ready to get back to work. It wasn’t because I was tired of my family even though it can get to a level of chaos that is a guaranteed recipe for insanity. I thought about leading worship and singing and playing with the team, collaborating on and discovering new moments of musical excellence and indescribable worship of God as He often breaks in to what we plan and through His grace allows us to remember that we are blessed to make noise, to be quiet, to sing, to play, to stand, to sit, to breathe.
This is why I do this job. Legacy is not my main concern, all that is headed to dust. Discipleship is slightly interesting to me but too often it just turns into duplication of the discipler which probably misses the point sooner than later. For me, I am a leaf: not long on the tree, so every day of my season must matter. I grow when I am in the sun’s Light and moved effortlessly by the Wind. My hope is to soak up the beauty of God through clear days and stormy ones, giving shade and respite to any who are in need as their journey passes by mine.
The first few weeks I completed small projects around the house that have needed attention for quite some time. It’s nice to enter the house now and not have to think about getting those things done “when I have some time”. I made sure to make time for reading and relaxing as well that first month. I finished the book Blue Like Jazz. Nice read overall. I also got into Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, Bob Goff’s Love Does and a book called The Rest of God which focuses on sabbatical and sabbath.
I also got to spend a good amount of time with my kids. Whether it was watching soccer games, cheering them on, playing in the yard any evening of the week or making pancakes on Sunday mornings I mostly enjoyed it. I mean they always find a way to fight about something which distracts from the amazing memorable moment at hand (sarcasm intended), but that’s normal and I expect it, so it is what it is.
I also visited 3 different churches in the area. They were great and it was nice to see what they are doing. I wish that I could say I just rested in their Sunday morning ministries but I noticed too many things that I liked, didn’t prefer, or wanted to try when I got back. So, while not a super worshipful time, it was quite useful.
The second month was even better. I had a decent rhythm by then of morning walks with Alissa, most of the projects were finished and Quinn, our 2 month old, warmed to me as someone who she could hang out with for more than 2 minutes at a time. I’m still waiting for that 10 minute barrier to be broken.
In early July I visited Pacem In Terris. 45 minutes north of Minneapolis in a wooded area complete with candle lit nights and deer fly infested days I rested in the embrace of silence and an unpopulated to-do list. The Spirit spoke softly through the rustling of leaves, clacking of tree branches and the footsteps of mysterious creatures just outside my window.
I experienced the slowness of a mind cleansed of the imprint of digital pixels. I found myself grateful and nearly gleeful at every breeze. Buggy and muggy as it was in the day, the evenings brought shade, cooler temperatures, decaf coffee and slow deep breaths as I reveled in the technology of a screened-in porch. During the day as I sat in my chair, I recognized that even though I was looking at the same trees and branches for those three days they were never the same.
Every moment, the sunlight was hitting the leaves from a different angle as it moved across the sky and then the next day, the branches had grown, if only a tiny bit, and the earth was nodding and tilting just a bit more away from the summer solstice. Every leaf on every tree experienced the sun in a new way every single day.
The last week or so of July I found I was ready to get back to work. It wasn’t because I was tired of my family even though it can get to a level of chaos that is a guaranteed recipe for insanity. I thought about leading worship and singing and playing with the team, collaborating on and discovering new moments of musical excellence and indescribable worship of God as He often breaks in to what we plan and through His grace allows us to remember that we are blessed to make noise, to be quiet, to sing, to play, to stand, to sit, to breathe.
This is why I do this job. Legacy is not my main concern, all that is headed to dust. Discipleship is slightly interesting to me but too often it just turns into duplication of the discipler which probably misses the point sooner than later. For me, I am a leaf: not long on the tree, so every day of my season must matter. I grow when I am in the sun’s Light and moved effortlessly by the Wind. My hope is to soak up the beauty of God through clear days and stormy ones, giving shade and respite to any who are in need as their journey passes by mine.
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