Is It Time To Re-Create Yourself?

This may seem a little different to you, but Thursdays have always been one of my favorite days of the week.  I’m not totally sure why this is.  It may have to do with the ministry schedule that I have kept over the years.  I usually spend Saturday’s preparing for Sunday’s lesson, teach on Sunday and then begin to think about the Wednesday night program right off the bat on Monday.  Come Thursday I’m finished for that week and have 2 days off!  (off from the ministry work but not from the secular jobs I’ve always worked in conjunction with the church work.)  The ministry is my passion and I tend to put my entire heart and soul into it.  Maybe that’s why I look forward to the two day respite between my prep and teaching schedule.  Hopefully that doesn’t sound like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth at once, but even Jesus took time off from His demanding ministry to rest and regenerate!

R&R is an important part of our busy lives.  Without times of rest and recreation we can burn out, open the door to illness and end up despising the things that we enjoy the most!  Note that the word recreation is a derivative of the word recreate.  The American Heritage College Dictionary defines recreate “as imparting fresh life, mentally or physically.”  The word recreation, which is listed immediately below it, is defined as “refreshment of one’s mind or body through activity that amuses or stimulates.” (American Heritage College Dictionary Copyright © 1993 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

Our bodies are a unique and complicated creation, but we can only push them so far!  We need to take the time to allow ourselves to be renewed and have fresh life imparted to us.  In the past, my wife and I used to take two vacations a year.  We would schedule a two night stay at an inn on the coast in the winter, and a trip to the mountains in the summer.  In recent years with new jobs, Bible School, a growing and changing family, and a whole host of other activities, we slowly got away from the winter holiday and to be honest, we haven’t actually had a real summer vacation to rest and just have fun for five years!  I think that it is about time to reverse this course of direction!  What do you think?

While this wasn’t one of my originally set goals for 2011, I think I’m about to add an additional one!  How is your schedule looking?  Do you take the time to participate in recreational pursuits?  Notice that I said “participate”…  If you look back at the definition of recreation it stated that it is accomplished through an activity.  I tend to believe that this does not just refer to watching a movie or going out to dinner.  I believe that it requires some type of extended physical action.  We have always enjoyed hiking, and while we take daily walks, there is nothing like hiking along a path that follows a winding stream, a tree filled countryside, green meadows, birds, deer (bears?)  and a noticeable absence of man-made structures!  This type of adventure will obviously take a little more planning and time, but the rewards are enduring to your emotional and physical state of being!

Just think about it.  What fun physical activities do you enjoy, and when was the last time you participated in them?  Maybe it is time to plan a holiday!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”