Desert Days

One of the job perks at Northwoods is that I get one day a month as a "desert day." The idea is that it's a day out of the office to read, write, reflect, dream, pray, etc. Bascially it's to do the stuff that needs to be done for the ministry that often gets pushed to the backburner in light of the tyranny of the urgent! So I took a desert day yetserday, and it was a nearly perfect day. There are several elements that go into me having a good desert day experience. Here are some of the elements for me.

• Morning spent reading a good book in a coffee shop -- check (read a couple chapters of Christ Plays in a Thousand Places at Kade's coffee shop in Peoria -- bonus points, I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a while and had a good time catching up with what God is doing in his life -- I hope I encouraged him, becuase the way he feels now is the way I felt 2 years ago.)
• There has to be some fasting to keep me focused -- check
• I need to interact with nature -- check (I went on a 2-hour hike where I sent time praying for Nexus and specifcally I prayed for most of our volunteers by name, thanking God for them and their impact on our ministry.)
• Serious, unhurried meditation & prayer that is more like a lingering conversation than a "purpose-driven," "please God give me this, this and this" prayer. -- check
• That I walk away with a renewed sense of the idea that right now, I'm exactly in the place that God wants me, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. -- check

80 degree temperature in mid-April was just an extra perk -- along with coming up on a small herd of deer, seeing turkey vulture fly right over my head, scaring up a heron as I crossed the creek and working up a sweat as I walked through God's beautiful creation!

I then spent some time getting ready to speak on Friday -- I'm teaching one of the segments for our Good Friday service -- Tim is doing the lion's share.