It’s taken me a while to settle back into life but I think I am nearly there…

I have some rhythms that are familiar and that let me know that I am ‘home’. After four weeks of wonderful holiday it is hard to get back into those rhythms. It’s even harder when the weather conspires against you and forces you to stay indoors when your work is outside.

This morning I am sitting on the verandah, reading Howard Snyder’s biography of John Wesley, and just enjoying the beauty of our suburb on a sunny Saturday. This week seemed to restore a bit of that rhythm and I am happier about being home.

For me the week begins with home schooling on Monday AM and then some admin and prep work in the afternoons. Monday is a mixed bag. It was even more mixed this week as we had another family staying with us. While in Broome we made friends with a family of 5 who are doing their ‘lap of Oz’. They turned out to be Christians like us and we formed a really good connection – both kids and adults. We told then to visit when they hit Perth, so they dropped in, planning to stay for a night, but the weather turned savage and they ended up being with us for 4 nights. It was one of those unexpected blessings that life brings where you end up really having a fun and significant time with people you hardly know, but who are ‘family’. Very special and beautiful to make those kinds of connections.

Tuesday to Thursday are my ‘go hard’ days, where I do my retic and turf work, and I went hard on those days. I know I’m back in rhythm when I am looking forward to Thursday evening… And this week it came like a breath of fresh air after some hard physical slog.

Fridays are when I prep for Sunday’s teaching. Some days it comes easily and other days you get distracted, can’t get the ideas to flow or are just too weary from the previous three days to do anything worthwhile. Yesterday went well and after some focused work I was done by 2pm. ‘Done’ is a relative term. Ten years ago I would not have considered myself ‘done’ as I was a preaching perfectionist but yesterday I was ‘done’ in the sense that what I had completed was ‘good enough’ to serve up on Sunday. It won’t win any ‘preacher of the year’ contests, but as I have grown a little older and less ego-centric I have ceased to participate in these futile events of my own imagination.

So Friday ends with me heading off to help at our church’s kids ministry program. I am the ‘games bloke’ and I can still remember many of those crazy games from my time with YFC. I never thought I’d be doing kids min, but my kids are in it, I need to be there so I’m happy to help. I’ve been memorising some kids names over the last few weeks – remembering from my days in youth ministry what a difference it makes when an adult knows your name. It still makes a difference…

Friday night ends with a glass of red and 4WD mag on the couch while the paralympics rolls in the background…

And then comes Saturday – the sabbath – where I get to rest and enjoy the home, the beach, the family and whatever else goes with the idea of sabbath. Today I happen to be having a ‘daddy and Ellie’ day where we head out to lunch at Sizzler (her choice…) and then a fun evening at home with our good friends Stu & Carolyn.

Rhythm… I like it. I don’t like routine. I find routine boring. It is doing the same stuff over and over. But rhythm is different. It’s recognising that our lives work best when they are in some kind of order and when we can anticipate what’s ahead.

Part of my rhythm had been regular blogging so chances are you will see me back on here a little more often than I have been lately.