One Less Checkmark on the Task List

It's a busy week! Tomorrow night, we're having a gathering at our house with 8 or 10 people who have expressed an interest in being part of the new church we're planting. We'll have dinner and spend some time getting to know one another, and Sara and I will share some of our early vision for this new ministry. We are excited! Please pray for us!

So that makes this a pretty busy week. We're also up to our necks in the details of planning e3, The School of Congregational Development for The United Methodist Church in New England coming up November 1-3 here in Portland. We have some nationally known speakers and about 30 workshops, plus great worship and opportunities to connect with brothers and sisters from other churches. Sara and I are on the design team, and also the worship planning team. Sara's coordinating the catering for Friday lunch and snack breaks. I've done a lot of the publicity, and now I'm coordinating tickets for the Friday night worship concert with Marty Magehee. All the details have to come together, because Friday and Saturday we'll be out of town for my cousin's wedding (I'll have the joy of officiating!), and next week we're off to Baltimore for six days. Yes, it is a busy week...

So this afternoon, Sara left for a gathering of her women clergy spirituality group, which meant it was my turn to spend one-on-one time with Rachel. She's been a little fragile lately: getting over a cold and a slight fever, and demanding more attention than usual. We played on the floor and read books, and I chased her around as she zipped from one thing to another. I had a project, though, that I really wanted to complete and get in the mail before 5:00... and it wasn't looking good. While Rachel was content playing by herself, I snuck to my laptop and began to work... which lasted a few minutes until I heard the sobbing coming from the living room. When I looked to see what was happening, there stood Rachel, holding our engagement photo, which she'd found on the bookshelf, and she was wailing, "Mooooommmmmmmyyy!"

So I took her in my arms, and we went to the sunroom to the glider rocker. I'll confess, I turned on Curious George -- we rarely turn on the television with Rachel, but we reserve it for just these moments when nothing else will distract her -- and we rocked, and we cuddled, and we watched Curious George until the sobs had ceased and the tears had dried... and soon she was sound asleep in my arms.

I didn't get the project done before 5:00. It will have to wait to go out in tomorrow's mail. But I know I was where I needed to be. Do you have those moments, when the priorities shift, and maybe you have fewer checkmarks on the task list at the end of the day, but you know it was right and good, and that completed tasks or not, God was glorified?

Mark Batterson, in his blog often says, "I absolutely refuse to sacrifice my family on the altar of ministry." That's a conviction I hope I can keep, too.