My wife and I took a pause from work and everyday duties in August. All though I would not call this a holiday as there were a few things that were scheduled, I will call it a great time to spend time away from work. The only problem is, I didn’t spend time away from work. Before you have time to assume that I am overworked or that I have poor time management skills, let me clarify what I mean.

My thoughts of Cornerstone…

…the church I am pastoring right now, are a part of who I am. They have become so dear to us and have welcomed us as part of the family even thought my transitional duties only allow me to stay for a year. As a pastor especially as a transitional pastor, I often think of what is coming up both planned and in need of being planned. There are days/weeks when the allotted timeframe to accomplish the required items can cause some stress but even when I feel under the gun the peace and joy does not disappear because I am a part of a group that loves God and loves each other.

My wife and I were talking…

…about how holidays and retirement has changed in our culture. When I was growing up my parents would plan 4 weeks of holiday each year. With the exception of a few years, we drove everywhere. My sister and I visited 9 of the 10 provinces and 2/3 of the continental United States and all of it by car. Once you go back a generation before that, vacation was much different. Unless you were very wealthy, your time away was most often time to visit friends and family that were not close enough to see every week. The idea of a needed holiday was not as prevalent in the minds of previous generations. Needing time off for rest was one category. Needing time for connection socially was another. Needing a vacation was a dream at best.

I am not one to say…

…I remember the good old days when things were so much better. However, there is one thing from the good old days that I think needs to come back. Some of you will have the opportunity to take a vacation south in the winter, others may not be able to afford it. Some may be like my wife and I; we try to go on little jaunts for an overnight or two. Some may treat themselves to a night out once in a while. That covers the vacation part but there was so much more to the lives of generations gone by. Work was work but when work was done people gathered. Time spent together just talking over dessert and a beverage was a vacation from the stresses of life. You didn’t need to go anywhere, just up or down the street and sit out on the front porch or around the kitchen table and enjoy each other.

My challenge to you and to myself is:

how can we as Christ followers and the collective of Christ followers become the front porch or kitchen table in our community? Regardless of income, everyone needs a place where the world’s problems go away at least once in a while, maybe once a week. The idea that we all need a vacation is a newer idea. The idea that we all need a place to belong, a place to leave the troubles of the day at the door, a place where we can, as they said in the good old days, chew the fat is not new and it never gets old.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching Hebrews 10:24-25