I'm usually most well rested after I've worked really rigorously and then rested. I'm not as well rested when I am kind of "perpetually resting" and not working hard between rests. I rest well when I've been vigorously working all day. I do not rest well when I am lying around all day.
In about 2 months Sarah and I will be leaving on a jet plane for a short term mission trip teaching pastors in Uganda and Kenya about marriage. It will be rigorous. We have a lot to do between now and then. We are going to be really wiped out throughout the process. And it will be invigorating and exciting in many ways. I already know that I will sleep well on the jet plane when we are heading back west! It will be deep sleep.
I do think that God calls us to a rigorous life. And in our lives of vigor we find rest. I think that is why, when my resolution for the year is to "rest more," I am called to spend my vacation traveling to 2nd/3rd/4th world areas teaching deeply from the Bible about the difficult subject of Christian marriage...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Happy birthday...
Today (April 9th) is my "Spiritual Birthday." Seventeen years ago this morning, at about 6:50, I was born spiritually in Christ. This was, up until that point in my life, the most important thing that had ever happened to me. And the "birth" was dramatic in many ways: prayers felt listened to, the Bible came to life, cussing stopped, joy sprung up...even now the memories are acute and vivid.
None the less, I find myself wishing I were farther down the road of being righteous. Or, to keep the metaphore going, more grown up spiritually. In my first 17 years of "real" life I learned to walk and talk; I learned to drive and was doing high levels of math in high school. I'm not sure what the equivalent maturity level is in my spiritual life, but it seems as though I should feel more grown up in the Lord!
There are many dads of four who hold down stressful jobs and balance the needs of life like a plate on a dowell like I do. Many of these men are not Christians and many of them do a better job of holding things together than I do. Compared to many guys my age my life is mixed up and messed up and sloppy!
Where would I be now without Christ?
Well, my life may be more organized and I may have become more wealthy. On the other hand, I may have become a drunk or a heroin addict...It's hard to say and I will never know because 17 years ago Jesus took my heart, soul, mind and strength and all that I may have been, the "good" and the "bad," will never happen. I am very thankful for that!
None the less, I find myself wishing I were farther down the road of being righteous. Or, to keep the metaphore going, more grown up spiritually. In my first 17 years of "real" life I learned to walk and talk; I learned to drive and was doing high levels of math in high school. I'm not sure what the equivalent maturity level is in my spiritual life, but it seems as though I should feel more grown up in the Lord!
There are many dads of four who hold down stressful jobs and balance the needs of life like a plate on a dowell like I do. Many of these men are not Christians and many of them do a better job of holding things together than I do. Compared to many guys my age my life is mixed up and messed up and sloppy!
Where would I be now without Christ?
Well, my life may be more organized and I may have become more wealthy. On the other hand, I may have become a drunk or a heroin addict...It's hard to say and I will never know because 17 years ago Jesus took my heart, soul, mind and strength and all that I may have been, the "good" and the "bad," will never happen. I am very thankful for that!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
No Pressure...
I feel absolutely NO PRESSURE to update my blog on a daily, weekly...monthly basis. I guess this is pretty obvious since my last addition was over 4 weeks ago! Praise God for letting things go.
Tonight I sat in the basement and read two chapters from C.S. Lewis to my son Abe and daughter Annabel. It was a cuddle-fest! Little Annabel kept rubbing my scruffy, spring-break half-beard with the back of her soft little hand while Abe sat under my arm and stared at the words as they flew by.
Blessings.
Tonight I sat in the basement and read two chapters from C.S. Lewis to my son Abe and daughter Annabel. It was a cuddle-fest! Little Annabel kept rubbing my scruffy, spring-break half-beard with the back of her soft little hand while Abe sat under my arm and stared at the words as they flew by.
Blessings.
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