Last weekend I shared with the people of Charter Oak Church that I have been running very hard since the beginning of the year - no real breaks, even bragging about not taking a day off. Why is it cool to brag about breaking the 4th Commandment?
So, the last two weeks I have purposefully created margin in my life by taking a day off. It has been so refreshing to be able to catch my breath. I also recognize that there is a difference between taking a day off and creating space to be alone and quiet with God. Mark Waltz posted an incredible blog about what I am talking about. Read it here.
At the beginning of the summer I sat down with each member of our Senior Management Team and told them that one of my expectations of them this summer is to take three spiritual retreats. They cannot do it on a day they typically take off. It does not count as vacation. It is time for them to be still and quiet before their Maker. We cannot give what we don't have. The essence of our job is to give away Jesus. We had better be filled up with Him in order to do that well.
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Chris Whitehead
Chris Whitehead
“If I acted crazy, I did it for God; If I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.” – Paul
Copyright © 2009 One of the Pastors at Charter Oak Church All rights reserved.
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2 comments:
Chris,
I think the thing that Mark says that is the Hardest is total space. Letting go of our distractions, agendas, thoughts, prayer requests, conversations with God and just listening with a empty space. Always a challenge for me.
Tom
I totally agree with you and Waltz. We have our lives so filled with noise that we can't stand the silence. It takes me a while to get used to the silence and to get over that hump when I create the space and time to be quiet before God. Once I get through that initial time, it really gets good.
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