Taking a Break - One Final Break

Over the course of the last month, I have been taking a break. I finished teaching a course for the first five weeks of the quarter and I didn't have to teach again until the final two weeks of the quarter. This is the first quarter since I began my work at Fuller that I have not had to register for a class - just teach. So, I've been taking a break from classes. Well, from taking classes - and from teaching classes during this month.
Instead, we have been traveling. We went to NE Ohio where I preached the NE Ohio Camp Meeting. It was a very enjoyable week. Great people, great fellowship, great response, great food, great setting, great accommodations. It was a great break from school and teaching. Instead of going to class and teaching about preaching, I preached 9 times in 7 days; in addition, I did five hour-long conferences from Monday through Friday. On Monday we rested; on Tuesday we saw a movie (The Dark Night - very good); on Wednesday we took our son and daughter-in-law out to dinner for their anniversary/birthday; and on Thursday we went to the hospital with our daughter-in-law for a procedure that turned out to be benign (Amen). That was our recovery week.
On Friday we flew to North Carolina and spent the weekend at the church were I first went into ministry. I preached there on Sunday morning and spent the entire rest of the day at a party hosted by the folks who were in the youth group when I was the Youth Minister. It was one of the most enjoyable and interesting days I've ever spent. After being gone for 30 years, more than 30 of those students came back to the church, bringing spouses with them, just to say hi and thank me for what I had invested in them years ago. Sometimes, ministry can fill you with a sense of having been used by the Spirit.
After the weekend, we flew to Florida to visit with Joanie's Dad and his wife, Tina. Dad is in his mid 80's and doing well, except for his hearing loss and back problems. We do enjoy spending time with them both and are most comfortable in their home. We also have a host of friends in Tampa from both the church and our ministry travels. We went to dinner or lunch most every with someone; went to a Tampa Bay Rays game (the most exciting game I've ever seen); I traveled to Warner Southern College to meet with the Church Ministries Department to set up things for me to teach a course for them in the Fall on-line.
This week we are in Indiana. Joanie has a meeting for the National Worship Committee tomorrow. Meanwhile, I have offered to sub in tonight for my son's pastor who is having a biopsy today. So, I am planning to teach tonight. I have been working on some of my lessons for the course I am teaching in the Fall at Fuller. On Friday, we go home to Pasadena. Then, it's back to work. We probably won't have another vacation until I finish at the end of 2009. Sure glad we got this break. It's nice to relax and not have anything to do.