Winding Down From Being Wound Up

I’m winding down Sunday evening. Lunch after church with friends, a power nap that was nearly 45 minutes long but a long time in coming. It’s starting to feel like the pressure of the day has bled off, and I’m up to the week ahead.

Finally, it seems like I can take a breath and just be me.

Sunday is my work day, and today was a double shift. I taught a challenging subject for the Adult Sunday School and then preached after some good worship. This came after a late Saturday night (midnight) and an early Sunday Morning (5:25 a.m.)

You don’t do what I did by accident. It took planning and execution, and still, not everything was perfect. I’ve learned to go with the flow and accept that I’m not perfect, nor is the day perfect. But if you always aim for perfection, you must also accept that there are often times of less than ideal performance and execution.

How do you prepare?

That’s a good question. It takes years of doing it before you find your comfort zone. Even then, you look to be flexible at the moment. Every second requires you to bob, weave, and duck. Shift left, then right. Success! You’ve made it through another long shift!

As a preacher/teacher for over 40 years, and a pastor for 30+, you learn how to prepare your lessons with a lot of prayer and study. Someone asked how I came up with what to speak about, and that’s never been a problem. My blogging is an example of this. Every day I have something to share. My mind never rests, and there are always subjects I can spend some time on.

Also, it helps to know what’s needed in the congregation and let God lead you forward.

Through the years, I’ve had some get upset, thinking I was focusing on them. That’s never the case. I never think about a particular person. But God knows how to let me take a path that gives a challenge to the right person at the right time.

Here’s My Thought

God gives me my wind-up time and thought. I spend a lot of time preparing. But when all is said and done, there’s never a complete downtime where I don’t think about what I could have done differently or even better.

My blogging is the same. I visit some of my ancient thoughts of nearly 12 years ago and realize how much better it could be. I splash some paint on it and let it be, let it be. Sometimes, that ancient thought gives access to a new pathway to write about today.

When you are solid in your foundation, it becomes easier to share your wealth and library of knowledge. And experiences.

But in the middle of that ancient path, there are many new words to share. I’m all about updating my world, so I have something new. Hmm… Maybe it’s time to go parachuting!