Almost as soon as I hit the “publish” button on yesterday’s post, I was already thinking that I needed to write a follow-up.  So here goes. First things first, I’m big on citing my sources, and I just wanted to say that when I write things that refer to consumerism as patriotism, that means I’m ripping off my good friend Jason Evans.  He’s a really good example of how I try hard in life to surround myself with people that are smarter than me. Speaking of people smarter than me, my dear wife, Michelle, commented on yesterday’s post with some of the very same thoughts I had in mind for my follow-up, so let’s jump in now.  Among other things (some of which she and I may have to agree to disagree on), she noted that we have participated quite heavily in this financial empire, and we’ve certainly benefited from [...]

Regardless of the fact that I actually planned, or at least knew, that this would be an insanely busy time in my life, I still feel like I’m overloaded. I’m the kind of guy that actually enjoys being busy a lot of the time – it’s fun to push hard, live on adrenaline, juggle a lot of things at once. It’s just that it’s not a sustainable way. And I’m arriving at the “diminishing returns” place, where I’m having increasing difficulty maintaining concentration on the tasks at hand. I’m pretty sure things will settle back down into a rhythm of more controlled chaos in a few weeks, but until then, I need to keep pushing. The thing that has (somewhat) saved my butt thus far is that I’m still trying to being idealistic about the whole Sabbath thing. After a long summer, school starts next week at UW. We’re getting [...]

. . . and when I do, I’ll wonder where my summer went. Wow, it’s continued to be super busy. Transitioning at the Purple Door, welcoming new staff, cranking on school, etc. At the end of last week, I had a quick trip to Atlanta for some meetings at one of the denom’s big mission centers. It was a good trip – got to see some George Fox school buds for dinner, and the work project at the denom went very well. I’m quite certain at this point that one of the key things that’s kept me sane has been my renewed “efforts” in the area of Sabbath. I’ve not been perfect, mind you, but more often than not, I’ve been able to significantly mellow out and spend some down time reflecting, talking at a reasonable pace with my lovely wife, and realizing that the world will still be waiting [...]

I spent the past few days in the land of paradoxy. I was at a retreat for my colleagues in Northwest Collegiate Ministries – folks from all over Oregon, Washington, and Northern Idaho. The topic of the retreat was Sabbath . . . which sounded ever so refreshing to me. Unfortunately, because I don’t get a chance to see my friends in ministry that frequently, I stayed up way too late, and got way too tired . . . quite un-Sabbath-like! But hey, at least it took place just in front of a three day holiday weekend, right? Sabbath time indeed! The presentations given by my boss-man, and good friend Wes and his wife Charlene were really terrific. It wasn’t just about convincing us that it’s good to take a day off – they actually did a terrific job of making it real for people. In particular, I was pleased [...]