October 5th, 2016

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Retreat

Wednesday, October 5th, 2016

There has been a lot said over the past couple of weeks in the blogs I read about needing a rest. Some are taking a hiatus from blogging. Some from their phone. Some from all media (not a bad idea actually). Some would like to take a hiatus from their job but find that sort of impossible to do. 🙂  You know…no work=no eat. Small things like that.

Monday afternoon Ryan, our youth pastor, and I took a hiatus. We got away for the afternoon. We prayed, We talked. We planned a sermon we are presenting together. We talked some more. It was a well-spent 5 hour hiatus.

Several things were captured in my brain:

  1. Hiring Ryan 3 years ago was absolutely the best thing we did. His heart and spirit are continually pursuing God. His love for the young people of the church is evident and they are responding to it. We are a great team (all three of us) and I love and love working with Ryan and Diana (our church secretary).
  2. Getting away was absolutely essential. I needed it. We needed it. Church life has been at breakneck speed and it is taking its toll on our time as staff. It was the first uninterrupted 4-5 hours we have had in a long time.
  3. I need a personal get away. I realize I am not as young as I used to be and can’t keep up the same pace I once did. But this is ridiculous. The “backburner” has become all too often the go-to for me. I have 4 books on sex trafficking I need to read plus some others I need to review. That issue is front and center for me right now. No time=no reading. Bill is not a happy camper with that scenario. I do get to leave this Saturday for Ohio to watch my grandson play football but that will be go-go-go all weekend. He plays on Sunday…my 64th birthday. I told him has to play well and win for my present. 🙂

It is not good to stay “strung tightly.” I need to heed my own advice. Here are some pictures from the Retreat Center in Quincy, IN we went to. The second picture is Ryan with our friendly visitor who spent most of his time outside on the porch doing what most of us desperately need to do: taking a nap. 🙂

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