When Davis is excited to head to a water park or even vacation, he’ll often ask how many more sleeps until the event.
For the past 6 days (or 152 hours or 9,120 minutes), Davis and Laura have been in North Carolina visiting her family. For the 12 years of our marriage, she has spent up to a week with her family between June and August. Some summers I make the trip with her and sometimes I don’t. I know my in-laws really don’t want to see me (even though I’m their favorite) so Davis accompanies Laura. Actually, it may be now that they really just want to see Davis and no one else. :-)
Bachelor mood goes into full swing once they leave. I have thought many times about setting up a meal train to get home cooked meals or even a GoFundMe so I can eat out the whole time. I also plan for things like work projects, lunch meetings, and maybe even a round or two of golf. I just need to keep myself busy.
Yes, I miss my family a lot! I look forward to having them back home. An extrovert doesn’t do well with an empty house. I look forward to the laughter and the love that fills our home!
As I thought about me missing my family while driving into work today, I was reminded how God must feel. You see, He created us to enjoy a relationship with Him. He desires our full attention (our whole heart). Over the past week, I read J.D. Greear’s newest book Not God Enough. He reminded me throughout the reading how little we make of God in our lives. We allow other things, people, opportunities, etc. to come into our lives. And when that happens, He is pushed to the side.
Do we really miss Him? Okay, I get it. Life is busy. Life is crazy (thanks, Ben Rector, for the song). Do you get to a point when you miss church on Sunday where you say, “Wow, I missed worshipping Him today?” Do you miss the friends in your small group because you’re just too tired from work to go? Do you miss the sweet communication of prayer and Bible reading when the latest Netflix release is uploaded?
Now don’t get me wrong, even as a pastor, I have to remind myself continuously to not get too caught up in the work of God that I neglect the God of work. My job requires me to be at the church on Sundays; however, I believe I would desire to be here even if it didn’t. Small groups? Yes, I enjoy being around people so that would probably work about 75% of the time. Now the communication piece – I have to challenge myself on that one often. The morning alarm sounds. I check the news, the emails and good ole’ social media. Then it’s time to get moving. But what about God? I have found that my day always starts off better if I communicate with Him rather than the rest of the world (Facebook world).
When Davis is excited to head to a water park or even vacation, he’ll often ask how many more sleeps until the event. Well, I have just two more sleeps until my family is home. I can’t wait. But how about for you (how about all of us)? What do you need to do to reengage with God? Church attendance? Bible reading? “He will never leave you or fail you” - Deuteronomy 31:6. It’s us that has moved, not Him.