Dancing for the Rhythmically Challenged

As I sit here this morning drinking my third cup of Trader Joe’s Vanilla Chai Spice coffee, having eaten my bowl of high fiber cereal with things like fruit, nuts, twigs, tree bark mulch, one thought keeps running through my mind.  Where did I misplace my man card?

No, that’s not really it.  My prevailing thought this morning is that I love my life.  My second thought is that I love my day off.  I don’t love my day off because I hate my job.  My job is part of the life I love.  But my job is not my life, and my day off reminds me of that.

When I was a young, energetic pastor, all fired up about changing the world, the day off was as an option that I might take occasionally.  Now that I am a middle-aged and more seasoned director of a regional network of churches, the day off is absolutely essential to maintaining the focus and energy necessary to assist churches in impacting their communities and extending to the world.

A day off is about putting all of life’s pieces into perspective.  It’s kind of like a reset button.  For me, it is a reminder that I am not just a director of a ministry; I am also a husband, a father, a neighbor, a homeowner, a community member. I usually check email one time on my day off.  Phone calls go to voice mail unless they are family members.  I work in the yard or around the house.  I think about other things besides the ministry activities that consume my time, energy, and focus the rest of the week.  I have extended times of prayer and private worship where I may sit at the piano or in my rocking chair with my guitar in hand. 

Maybe the best way to sum it up is that a day off helps me to get back into the rhythm of honoring God through a balanced life.

I’m looking out my back window and watching the framers begin to give shape to the new Sweetie Suite on the back of our house.  It’s going to be really nice and we will try to decorate and stage it attractively.  But most importantly, we will LIVE there. We will recline, watch TV, read books, sleep, snuggle, shower, dress, talk, and pray.  We will mess it up and then clean it up.  We will rest and restore.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).

God said to Moses, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."  (Exodus 33:14)

A day off is not taking a break from the things that matter.  It is a reminder that all of life matters to God.  If life is a race to be run, maybe a day off is a pause to dance.

Even for rhythmically challenged Baptists like me.