Last week I had one of those weeks that people dream about. It was a week where everything was happening and all of it was positive. I even ended the week well rested and basking in God’s love. I really couldn’t have drawn it up any better than that, although I did almost wreck the whole thing. Allow me to explain:
It started out with the official release of the book Unbreakable. Charles and I had been working on the book for so long I just never thought it would happen. Not only did it happen, it happened in a big way: The amazing community we are in bought a ton of copies, and through the magic of a friend we were able to get a pretty sweet book trailer done.
So, as if that weren’t enough, God puts everything together involving our call to Centerville UMC and we are able to get that wrapped up and announced at both churches over the weekend.
Then to cap off the week, I went on an Emmaus walk that had already been scheduled for months. Honestly, I even thought about canceling the walk because we had so much life going on I didn’t know if it was a good time for me to be out of the loop for the weekend. This is how I was going to wreck the whole week: I thought all of my busyness was so important that I didn’t need to go on this retreat. After all, I had been successful, and I didn’t need to retreat! Then I remembered an important lesson that I learned in the military: Retreat is a tactical move.
Often times when we talk about retreating, we refer to it as a move that is done when there are no other options. However, the truth is that retreating is meant to be a tactical move on the battlefield, and in life. Taking a step back affords us the space to see the entire picture, it allows us to regroup and assess resources. Retreating also gives us the chance to rest, and we must never underestimate the power of being rested. The Emmaus walk was God’s way of saying; “You’ve been through a lot this week, let us rest together so I can begin to prepare you for the next season of your journey.”
We aren’t called to rest from work; rather, we are called to work from rest.
When is the last time you took a chance to retreat?
Where did you retreat?
What does regular rest look like in your life?
*To find more info about the Dayton Emmaus community click here.