My 4 ½ month temporary assignment was completed yesterday. I probably won’t truly appreciate that fact until Monday morning when I don’t have to wake up at 4:30 AM and be ready to leave for work by 6. It will be delightful to miss the Monday morning commute and even more so to miss the Monday evening one! I will miss the people with which I worked, however, I enjoyed those relationships.
I think it will be weeks, however, before my body and mind recover from their tiredness. These last weeks have been hard on the body, but even more so, my mind has grown tired. It’s been difficult to write, and to prepare sermons. My mind doesn’t want to focus. It wants to zone out. Every so often I will find myself just staring blankly.
“I am too old to do a 40-hour work week in addition to pastoring, writing, and everything else I do.” I said that same statement at this time last year when I completed the first 4 ½ month temporary assignment. I guess I didn’t learn that lesson very well then because I did the same thing this year and got the same result. Maybe this time I’ve learned my lesson?
Learning lessons never comes easy. I often repeat the same mistake a couple times (always with the same result). As a preacher I’ve used the Israelites and their Exodus from Egypt as object lessons. God proved Himself strong in their behalf repeatedly, and they never learned. I could just as easily have used my own life. I’m not all that different from them!
Paul reminded the Corinthians that Israel’s problems in the wilderness “happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.” [1 Cor 10:11]
Maybe I’ll go back this week and re-read the Book of Exodus. Hopefully, I’ve learned my lesson better this time. 😊
