October 26 – “Family”

Yesterday I really needed a “joy comes in the morning” experience in the afternoon.  I used up just about my last vestige of optimism and energy.  I was just plain tired.  Seaside has been behind in giving, so I found out I won’t be getting my paycheck on time.  And the emails have started about what that might mean and whether it is a major crisis of belief and what do we do now.  I have a funeral to go to at eleven this morning of a really nice old guy from First Baptist Church in Galveston.  He was always accepting and even encouraging to me during the time I was there as a long-haired, liberal, change-at-any-cost, Jesus-Freak-new-Christian, high school senior.  My friend Jennifer got some tough news about her ankle.  Mom was up all night again, so Chris and I didn’t get much sleep.  Chris is trying to get her Mom’s will finalized after a flurry of emails from the lawyer.  Chris hasn’t even been out of the house, except for one time last Sunday to come to church, since we can’t leave Mom by herself. 

Maybe I should try to take a sabbatical from Seaside like the pastors of big churches do.  No, I guess that wouldn’t work.  It would have to be a paid one since we can’t afford to go without a check.  And they wouldn’t be able to pay an interim guy anyway.  They would have to be creative about taking up the slack.  Mike could do most of the preaching.  I don’t know who would teach the youth group or the Sunday School class before church or our home group.  But it sure would be nice.  The first two weeks I would just rest, probably sleep.  We could go see Josh and Christi and their boys.  Somewhere in there I could work on books.  I finished the one that compiles my Hurricane Ike journal into the story of how we faced the aftermath of the storm.  But we don’t have the $1400 to get it published.  I’m working on the Visual Verses devotional book.  It would take some doing, but I could get some work done on the compilation of services and ceremonies I have created over the years.  Sigh.  It is kind of fun to daydream. 

The Bible study last night at home group was on bearing one another’s burdens – Galatians 6:2.  Best point of the night was on getting your focus right.  If you focus on your own burdens all the time, then you are obviously out of whack (kind of like my rant above).  Then you have to be either John Wayne and handle it all by yourself, or Tom Sawyer and try to trick others into handling it for you.  But if you focus only on others’ burdens, then you become a martyr and burn out and then you’re no good to yourself or anyone else.  The only focus that makes sense is to focus on God as the Father.  That makes other believers your family, and where else but family can you feel free to admit it when your burden gets a little too heavy?   Where else can you offer to carry someone else’s pack for a while and he is OK with letting you?  Family.  Family of God.  It sure makes sense. 

Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Father, help with that focus-on-you thing when I get overwhelmed with the stuff in my backpack.  Amen.