He's Alive!!!

Sheesh. It's been just shy of 60 days since my last post.

What started out as a temporary layover in Downtime, turned into a hectic flurry of projects, family crises, ministry urgencies, and a side trip into the the land of ....rest.

It began as a critical need to unplug. I was way overstressed. Over-committed to the wrong things. Good things, like 'working for God' kinds of things. But I found myself without time to be a Dad, a Husband, and a Lover of Christ. All of a sudden, I had gone nearly two weeks without reading the Scripture for the sake of knowing God...I had only studied it for the purpose of teaching a lesson.

What the heck?!?

As God has a tendency to do, he provides. He's provided some great men in my life I consider as friends. Men I can vent to, pray with, cry with, and be encouraged by. God provided me a boat (seriously) that I can escape to and just be with Him. I've been reminded of how often Jesus withdrew to lonely places to be with his Abba Daddy. Good times.

Through a handful of bloglinks (I'll share another time...I've got staff meeting in 10 minutes), I've run into other guys and girls who also struggle with the balancing 'pursing Christ' with 'event planning'. Face it, after 19 years of doing this, event planning is cake. If you can't put together a weekend retreat or a camp after this long, you need to see if Best Buy is still hiring.

But the struggle is finding time to 'waste' with God. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to be quiet and removed enough to hear that still small voice we're always blabbing about. Unplug. Log off. The messages in your inbox will be here when you get back. Your IM conversations will still be blinking. The world will continue to revolve....without your help.

My wife and kids don't need a manager, they need a Daddy/Husband who knows God, not just knows about God. The students in our ministry don't need another lesson on why they shouldn't have sex on Prom Night. They need adults who drink deep from the Living Water, who's bellies are full on the Bread of Life, not ESPN.

I'm in the process of breaking in a new Bible (which I HATE, btw). But it's time to do so. It's for a number of reasons which we'll have to talk about later---I have staff meeting now. So, yeah, the clock keeps ticking, my Outlook appointments keep reminding me of my LIfeway meeting tomorrow, my lunch appointment at 11:30, my need to call and check on a parent that recently had surgery, a follow-up with a couple of volunteers, band practice tonite, an interview with a summer intern, .....you get the picture. Sure, God understands all this. But He demands I put Him at the top of the list.

Remember...