Reflections From Sunday Evening

Cough, cough, sputter, sputter. That has been my primary activity the past few days. I remember when I would come down with a cold like this and go "sweat it out." I have run with a fever. (No fever this week.) I have played basketball with a fever. When we were in our early days of marriage Cindy drove me to a basketball tournament where I was referring because I was too sick to drive! Of course I refereed the games. Oh how times change. I could feel this coming on Tuesday morning. I seemed to tire easier during my workout. I had a little scratchy throat. I took a allergy pill hoping to knock it out. (Next time it will be zinc. Thanks Dr. Kimbal.) Following staff meetings Tuesday and lunch I went home and slept for two hours. I never sleep in the day! Then I left the building committee meeting early and went home to bed. I was committed to taking care of myself so I cancelled one appointment and made another with my physician. No strep or flu but surely a cold that was knocking me down. About the best I could do was treat the symptoms so that is what I have been doing. Saturday I was thinking about how I was going to be able to preach four times this weekend and it began to sink in that I was not acting very smart. It dawned on me that I work with a tremendous staff. I fully trust them. So even though I love to preach and that is what really keeps me ticking, why not turn it over to Ginger and Curtis. Our congregation deserves better than my "C" game so I reached out and asked Ginger and Curtis to preach this weekend. Ginger preached Saturday. Curtis preached this morning and Angie preached at NEXT. I am sure everyone was blessed by their "A" game rather than what I had to offer. So now that I have shared the details of my little cold what is this really about? Yesterday I became aware that my friend Bob Farr has spent the last few days in the hospital with cluster headaches. I just saw him last weekend. We are among those who tend to go go go until we are gone gone gone. I recently read Len Sweet's new book, "The Well-Played Life" that basically invites Christians to a life of play. Certainly we work but life consists of much more than how many hours we can work and how much we can get done. God reminded my that we have a great staff and I should never hesitate to welcome them into ministry. I am not indispensable. I am human and susceptible to wearing down. Life is an adventure to be lived fully and joyfully. And on and on and on. So I have embraced a few days to rest and read and stay home and not spread germs to everyone else. (I did manage to share this is Cindy - bless her heart). The days ahead will tell if I have received insight from God. In the meantime I will just recognize that this has not been a bad week. There were some good basketball games on that I would not have normally watched. So in reality it's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. Be well. See you soon. steve