It was so good to get away last week with my family. We went to a tiny town, about 4 hours away, in Central Nebraska called Long Pine where we got to hang out in the spring fed creek (pronounced crick according to Nebraskans). We went tubing, barbecued, napped, read, watched TV, napped, and just relaxed.
I was reminded again of my whiteness as I came back thoroughly sunburned. Kind of lets you know a bit of the change that will happen before I see my Savior face to face as he alone dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim.6) and I can’t even lounge outside for a couple of hours without encountering serious pigment issues.
One phenomenon that I observed was the effect of rest on my family. I am wired to go, go, go. I don’t really like to sit still and do nothing. I enjoy cramming the schedule full, getting exhausted and spending time with the family (even this schedule is full with baseball and other such things).
My family (Christie and our four children) have been running this race with me for the two years of pastoral ministry that I have enjoyed. Until this past week I had not realized the toll that it had taken on them. I watched my wife just relax. I watched the kids fool around and take naps. I led the family in doing nothing; it was great. I didn’t have a phone or email and I enjoyed it. It was enlightening to see everyone relax and be refreshed.
The point of this rambling is that we all (but pastors in particular) need to plan and practice refreshment, for ourselves and our families. My wife is in great ministry shape, she has great servant cardio; however she does not need to run a 10K everyday and certainly needs some time to, along with the rest of the family, be refreshed.