A lifestyle of frenetic energy...

Sarah and I were looking through some old photo albums from the summer we met in North Myrtle Beach the other night. In the midst of photos that reflected the mosaic of that summer's life together I caught myself saying things like:

"I was really excited to get a job at the Surf Club because I was able to make more money per hour and they let us work a half-day on Saturday to get a few more hours in."

"Sunday was the day for church, beach outreach, and small group leader's training. Monday was a night for dinner. Tuesday was discipleship night. Wednesday was mid-week worship. Thursday was large group. Friday was time for going out on the town. Saturday was work in the morning, beach outreach in the afternoon, and large group socials at night."

"I think I should have gotten a job that paid less and required fewer hours so that I could have enjoyed my time with others more."


The thoughts that came from these pictures showed me something bigger than the individual events I was looking at. What I noticed was a summer that reflected the bigger picture of my life as an adult.

• In High School I worked part-time jobs and did a ton of extra curricular activities, feeling over-loaded and telling myself it would change when I graduated.
• In college I took 18-20 credits a semester, practiced 2-3 hours a day, and was involved with a ton of extra curricular activities, feeling over-loaded and telling myself it would change when I graduated.
• When I graduated I worked a ton of hours with little downtime, moved around the country exploring life in the USA, and was involved with a ton of extra activities that kept me feeling over-loaded and telling myself this would change when I "settled down" with a family.
• When I got married I worked a ton of hours with little downtime, always had at least two jobs, and was involved with a ton of extra activities that kept me feeling over-loaded and telling myself that things would change when I..."got promoted in the Army," "Quit the army," "Got a higher paying job," "Potty Trained all of the kids,"...

What I saw in the scope of the photo album with Sarah was a cacophony of activities that resulted in a frenetic lifestyle that kept me constantly feeling over-loaded and looking for the next step to allow me time to rest.

I spent the next afternoon on the hammock in our back yard watching the kids jump on the trampoline. I called a handyman to fix the bathroom toilet, let the weeds in the mulch grow a little longer, and fell asleep. When Sarah eventually woke me up I committed to spending another year learning how to live a lifestyle of rest.