Tuesday, September 13, 2011

(No Brainer) Lessons from the Farm

While my time away at the farm was a short vacation, a typical vacation it was not.
I went intentionally to work on some things around the place for mom and to spend time with her. I didn't really go with the intention of relaxing and getting caught up. Knew it wasn't going to happen!

But on the plane ride home, I had the opportunity to upgrade to 1st class, something that rarely if ever happens. So I took it. Comfy, roomy and well attended to. I told my wife I could get used to this...but I'm a realist.

Don't get me wrong - while at mom's I did 'rest' more than I normally do here in town. But for the first time in I don't remember when, I actually relaxed. It caught me off guard! I had that 'I forgot something' feeling.


And then I heard all those voices from my family, friends and church - "Karl, you had better take your day off and relax...You need to just goof off for a bit, stop biting off more than you can chew..."


You'll all be glad to know it's beginning to sink in!


But here's the deal: not only does this affect my ability to lead here in my home and church, it adversely impacts my witness to a watching world. And not in a good way.

  • The lesson - let some stuff go (and some die) and get my heart and head back in the game for God. That means that folks in the church will need to step up and find a place to serve.That means that I will need to (and am willing to!) LET some stuff go. 

  • The other harsh lesson of this trip was that I am not surrounding myself with people who need to hear about Jesus. I am surrounded by Christians at work and all my friends are Christian. My witness 'circle' is not so large!
How are you doing in these areas? Are you so busy doing 'church work' that you don't get any time for you, your family or your God? Are you surrounded by Christians more than non-Christians? What is your witness like?

If you're like me, we need some work. Know that I'm in the boat with you, striving to make the right choices and balance life out for God over what I think.

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