A "sort of vacation"

It is December. I am on a "sort of vacation." A "sort of vacation" means I have the time off, but am still preaching each Sunday and Christmas Eve .

There are two kinds of vacations for me. One is the real deal where you go away, far away, can't really be reached, get to be relatively anonymous, and unwind and relax. We did that this summer in Florida. I always look forward to those. I probably need two of those a year...but I am thankful for anything I get there.

The second one is this "sort of vacation"... which means we stay home, family comes to us, I get up when I want to, work when I want to, quit when I want to... in general, it is about me setting the schedule and doing what I want to.

So what will I do during this "sort of vacation?"

Well, I will visit Brynlee... and play with Gracie. I will talk to my daughters and their hubands. I will text Joel about games and life. I may go to the lake. I will read some books, and work on my study of James ( coming on Sundays and Wednesday in January). I will finish off some Bible reading for the year. I want to re-arrange my home office. I will putter around town some, workout, sleep in some, stay up, watch football, read some more and hang out. I will watch some basketball, high school, maybe some college. I will sit and talk with Pam. We will watch some movies. But I also will kind of stay out of her way. She has two weeks off and she doesn't need me hanging all over her. I will preach a couple Sundays, preach Christmas Eve services, and continue thoughts about what 2011 will hold. I will reflect on 2010 as well.

AND I WILL SAY THANK YOU LORD.... 2010 was a crazy year on so many levels. 2010 has forced me to depend on him more, praise him more, cry out to him more and to reach out to others more. It has been the most demanding year of my life. This was a surprise. I knew 2010 would have its challenges, but I really had no idea of the depth of those demands. We have launched a new campus, Pam and I began leading a new life group, our church has hired a couple new people, and moved some others around and I have established some new relationhips with church leaders at the North American, and in the Northeast. Pam and I celebrated 29 years of marriage, added a new son-in-law and a new granddaughter. We also have confronted some issues at church and in our own lives which have helped us to depend on Him more than ever before. We talk about "digging deep wells." so that when challenges come, you have something to draw from. 2010 was a year which really tested the depth of my wells.

Along the way I have witnessed lots of stories of how God works everything for His purpose, in my life and others.

So my "sort of vacation" is really a good thing... I will slow down and kind of mosey through the last two weeks of the year... hopefully on Jan 3rd, I will be rejuvenated to the point that I can hit the ground running on a new and exciting year ahead.

I also hope that this "sort of vacation" will renew a passion to write more in this blog. ( I know it has been sporadic.) So look for more random thoughts about God, life, and this crazy world that we live in...