End of Vacation

"The Lord is my light and my salvation-

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life-

of whom shall I be afraid?" Ps. 27:1

I am so ready to get back to work!  It is amazing how this anticipation has increased for being back at writing, meeting with folks, preaching, etc.  It has increased in just the past couple of days.  Today, I wanted to share what I learned over the past couple of weeks.

First, as Americans we do not know how to vacation very well!  In the past twenty years, we have moved from taking weeks off at a time to taking long weekends for breaks.  I have to say that long weekends actually increase our work-load.  We really do not get a definitive break from work, but a short breather that requires us to work harder to prepare to leave and to work harder when we get back to make up for what we missed.  I know it is better than nothing, but I would say that it is barely better than nothing.

When I was a kid, my parents had a "camp" as we would call it in Maine (it was just called a summer home in the Midwest!).  My mother was a teacher and my dad had some flexibility in his schedule so we would take three weeks off as a family.  Every year the experience was similar.  The first week, you run around like at home.  You have not really been able to let down.  As the week progresses, the stress and drive begin to end.  The second week was one of complete let down.  It was marked by tiredness and sleeping.  It was as if our bodies showed our spirit's weariness!  At the end of this week, we always felt so much better!  Finally, the third week was one of complete enjoyment.  Vacation was had by all, as the stress was gone, the weariness ended, and our "old selves" came back to life.

This vacation, I had two weeks broken up by a wedding.  Next time, I will not do a wedding.  Still, I found the same pattern in place.  The first week, my inner dialogue continued.  I was restless.  I wanted to relax, but had trouble doing so.  We spent this week at a resort in the mountains of Maine.  It was good, but it was more of an unwinding than enjoyment.  There was always the temptation to jump back into work in thought and deed.  When we returned home for the second week, I found myself really tired.  I slept a ton.  I also found my stress level gradually decreasing.  I still had projects to do around the house, but they did not seem like such a burden.  Then, this weekend, I began to feel like my old self.  If I just took another week, I would really enjoy myself!

Now for the real lessons of vacation- the Lord does restore my soul.  When I get stressed, I feel like I work harder, but I actually get less done.  I forget things.  I miss place stuff.  My inner dialogue runs non-stop.  Yuck!  I also find it is hard to hear the voice of the Lord.  His ability lead and guide me through His word, prayer, and intuition is greatly decreased.  Why?  I think I actually lose the ability to hear.  It is as if my nerves become deadened to "God's stimuli" in my life.

This second week of vacation, I found my listening nerves came back on-line.  I spent much time in the early Psalms just reflecting and talking to the Lord.  As time went on I heard back from Him!  My prayer is that this week, my ability to listen will continue to increase.  I want to know the Living God and I want to seek His face.  I want His presence to transform me!

So how did I find restoration?  First, "Be still and know that I am God."  When I work too much or do not take time off, I begin to believe that the Lord could not work without me.  In other words, I live and walk in unbelief!  I had to stop.  Even with seeming "needs" in my church and with my friends, I needed to stop trying to meet them.  God will meet the needs and He will use someone else if I am not available. As one of my good friends likes to say, everyone is replaceable.  It is so true!

Second, I had to cut down on my electronic communications.  I did not pour myself out in blogging, e-mail, or other correspondence.  I allowed the Lord to re-fill me.  This was hard to do, but I had to do it.  So, if you are waiting for an e-mail from me, I hope to catch up this week! 

Third, I took time to take care of my aging body.  Our soul is encased within a frail body.  If we do not take time to take care of our body, we will lose the ability to function.  This includes our spiritual dimension.  One of the great truths of the incarnation was that Jesus now knows what we go through!  He knows tiredness, hunger, and thirst.  He knows emotional states like grief, sadness, confusion, and overflowing joy.  Vacation gives our frail bodies time to recover.  In the recovery, I found my spirit restored.

Well, enough for now!  May the Lord grant each of us time to find restoration!  Pray for me as I get back to work and as I think through what to write next.