Ok…ok….8:30 – 5:30….that’s my schedule that I am trying to stick to now for work and related things. Maybe you are like me – you could work on your work 24/7, because you love what you do. I love the fact that one of my main textbooks for my seminary classes is my Bible. I love that I am spending time each day developing the ministry that God is leading me in. And I love the fact that I get to incorporate my love of illusion into some of my work. I could work all day, and I used to do that. This time last year, I would literally spend every waking moment working on something. Because if I wasn’t working, I was wasting time and that was no good. I did not watch TV, I didn’t read much for pure enjoyment, and I definitely didn’t take naps. I was the exact opposite of George on Seinfeld during his “Summer of George”.

 So after I got married earlier this year, I began to realize that some things needed to change. God began to teach me about the importance of rest. Somewhere along the lines, those of us in ministry have bought into the Corporate American ideal that if you aren’t ‘doing” something then you are wasting your time. But in Mark 6:31, Christ acknowledges the importance of some “down time”. He takes the apostles away into the desert to get some rest. In fact, rest was very important to Jesus. Remember how he slept in the boat before and during the storm? This was also a case of “pre-meditated” rest. Jesus didn’t just “doze off” in the boat, he went into a covered section of the ship, found a “pillow”, and got some rest (Mark 4).

In light of all of this truth about rest, my wife and I had a conversation last week. I had been thinking about the dangers of my 24/7 mindset: the dangers to our family, to my health, and our relationship with others. Here is our solution: Working from home most of the day AND having a laptop allows me to always be “in the office” if I want too (NOT a good thing). So we have decided that I will work from whatever time I start in the morning (usually around 8:30) and I will end at 5:30. After 5:30, I don’t touch the computer for work purposes. Sure, there is always more that can be done. But that’s the issue: there’s always more to be done. Somewhere in all this work we have to learn to draw the line in the sand, retreat into the desert, fall asleep in the hull of the ship, and spend time with the ones we love. And put the iPhone on silent. More thoughts later…