Lingering.

This is an interesting little journey, this 12-week sabbatical experience. It is, like so many chapters in life, one of those experiences where God works around the edges. Comes at us from a direction we didn't expect.

Last week we spent three and a half days at one of our favorite spots on the southwest coast of Michigan. South Haven is a town with a lovely marina, two beaches, some nice shops and simple restaurants, a river that divides the town, a section called North Beach that has many B & B's, and it all "works" as a getaway place. We soaked up the sun, enjoyed the water, watched some stunning sunsets, and walked out to a rather pedestrian lighthouse that sits at the end of the jetty/breakwater.

These last couple of days, though, I have been hanging out at home. Taking care of lots of small things. Phone calls, doing a little writing, running errands, and stopping at the grocery store a couple of times. Just ordinary, little stuff. Tuesday I worked out at the Y, headed to Mishawaka and visited a book store, bought a pair of good walking sandals at the mall, and had a late lunch at a BBQ joint. I've been "burning" CD's to synch with the new iPod player I bought three weeks ago.

Now here is the thing: I have noticed that I am lighter. Somehow, even though I keep moving, I am lighter. And I have noticed that I am lingering with people. Slowing down. For instance, I stopped at the barber shop this morning. (I know...it doesn't take long!) Instead of paying the bill and moving out the door, I lingered. I don't know whether the guys in the shop appreciated my hanging out for a few extra minutes, just chatting, but I have noticed that I am lingering more with people. Whether at the barber shop or talking with the woman standing behind me at the post office yesterday.

Something inside me is slowing down.

As I sorted through some things today, cleaning up my part of the house, I came across a devotional reading for Christmas someone had given me months ago. It's the story of a woman in an office who gives a man a couple of small gifts for Christmas. One is a very inexpensive calculator. There is another little thing to take camping. Finally, though, she gives him a wrapped present which he opens -only to find nothing inside.

There was nothing inside! The man held the empty box up. There was a long silence. Quietly, the woman said, "It's a pause. Use it anywhere. Anytime you need it. It will always be there." The woman smiled. "I know you've been busy," she said, "and I thought you could use a pause."

I like that story in Luke 10. Where Jesus shows up at the home of his friends, Mary and Martha. He lingers. And Mary lingers with him.

Somehow I think lingering is an important part of the art of life.

Half-Empty or Half-Full (It's a Sabbath Thing)?

People, when they are sorting through life, looking over a situation, will sometimes use the phrase, "Do you see the cup as half-full or half-empty?" The point being, of course, that some of us see things in the worst possible light...and others see a situation from a more positive perspective.

I've been silent for awhile. No blogging. And that has been because the cup hasn't been half empty or half full but overflowing! Overflowing with lots of good stuff...great things going on in the church, trips back and forth to Columbus, Ohio to visit Olivia and Ella, quick trips to ski or to catch a film. And life has been overflowing with some things that are challenging. I won't go into detail about those but let's just say pastoring a large church, which is passionate about reaching and serving a region for Christ, that is in the middle of big changes...well, that can get kind of crazy!

So the cup has been overflowing.

Even a recent, super cool trip out to Washington D.C. was a part of this overflowing thing. Preached Saturday night, packed my stuff before heading to bed late, preached three more times on Sunday morning, jumped in the car for Columbus...hung out...re-packed a van and headed for D.C....a U-2 concert that was awesome but kept me out until 1:30 in the morning... granddaughters to play with first thing the next morning...all delightful....a drive home that ended at 3:30 in the morning.

Non-stop. Pretty much non-stop.

Not much time to write on the blog.

You understand, right?

I've been home about a week, since that DC trip, and have been very sick most of the week. I'm getting better but this is going to be slow.

Our bodies have a way of encouraging us to observe Sabbath, don't they? For five days I have been unable to speak...so I thought I would take this chance to write.

Too much can be too much -even if it is too much good.

Stopping is a good thing.

So here I am...stopping...forced to the side of the road...weak as a kitten...and discovering the world seems to do okay without me making sure everything is just fine.

God has this simple idea. He shares it with Moses and the Hebrew ex-slaves in Exodus 20:8-10: "Remember the Sabbath. Every seven days you need to stop. Every member of the family. Even your dogs and cats and cattle. Let everybody have time to breathe!" (Okay... well, I've taken a few liberties with the text but you get the point, right?)

Too much can still be too much.