Extremely Happy to be Home!

A confession – prior to my visit to the Northwest, I was in need of a break.  I was grouchy and discouraged.  (Joel Osteen would not have approved of my disposition). 

It is amazing to me how much perspective plays a part of our well being.  And sometimes we need to pull away and unplug from the daily routine to find rest.  With intentional rest comes perspective.  If we violate Sabbath rest, something morphs in our soul. We start to get edgy and anxious. 

The psalmist tells us, “It is in vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep” (Psalm 127:2)

A man went on safari in an exotic country, hiring some local guides to manage his procession. Because he arrived late, he was already three days behind schedule, and the original safari had left without him. So he and the hired men sprinted to catch up.

After the first day of running in the jungle heat, the men fell exhausted at the evening campfire. Early the next morning, the visitor blew his whistle: “Come on! Let’s Go! We need to catch that safari!” The men jumped up, strapped on the bags and started running.

Long after the sun had set, they finally stopped, once again falling in sheer exhaustion.  This pace was repeated another day.  On the fourth day, the eager visitor sprung to his feet and exclaimed, “Today we shall surely catch them! Let’s go!”

The hired men, however, just sat around the dying fire, poking the embers with a stick.  “Get moving right now!” urged the man. But the leader of these hired men said, “We are not moving; you have pushed us so hard these first three days we have to wait a whole day… to let our souls catch up.”

Rest allows our soul to catch up.  Composers know the importance of scoring into each piece appropriate rest. Noah Benshea writes, “It’s the space between the notes that makes the music. I am learning the importance of this truth in my life.  I discovered, in my rest, God continues His work. He then invites me to reenter with a humbled soul, hungry again for what He has called me to do.

The pictures reveal the spaces between the notes of my song this past week. Shot my first under par round - 70 on a par 72 course in the mountains.

All that said — I am extremely happy to be home and reenter with a hungry heart for what is ahead.

Thank you to all the staff at First Assembly for keeping things moving forward.