Sunday night mind purge

So this week has been interesting, stressful, exhilirating, boring, and fun all at the same time:

- On Monday I began the day with physical therapy, which, although the people there are really nice, is just not a good way to start the day - or the week for that matter. =)

- After that, I went in to the office for awhile, did some work and had a really good, deep conversation with a dear friend of mine, then went to The Bagel Shop and worked there for awhile, then went to read at Starbucks for awhile before having a quick meeting with a couple of people to do some mid-course correction on a leadership issue, and then ended the day with a nice long session at the gym. It was a super busy and somewhat stressful, but good day.

- Tuesday was a looooooong day at the office. I spent the day working on budgets, writing up some stuff, prepping for meetings, and looking through the DSC website (which we're fixing to do a major overhaul to in the near future). After working all day, I rushed over to the Northeast to have a quick dinner and then lead my GrowGroup. Funny thing about evening GrowGroups - more often than not it seems, you're really tired and kind of don't want to go, but you go anyway and you leave so blessed and so glad you went. That night was one of the most blessed times we've had all summer!

- Oh Wednesday ...the longest day of the week for me. It went from 8 am 'til 11:30 pm straight - no break. I had PT, then ran some errands for the church, then went in to the office, then had a lunch meeting, then did more work at the office, then went to the gym for awhile, then rushed home to shower up, and then had a NE campus staff meeting. We talked through so many important things and laid out some detailed plans that though I was tired from such a long day, I felt so accomplished, excited about the future, and thrilled about what God is going to use us for in the Northeast part of our city.

- After that I went to the airport to welcome back the Slovakia team. It was good to see them all, and I ended up taking Walter home so I got to hear all about their experience during the few weeks they were there. It sounded like they worked hard, had a good time, and really made an impact for God in the lives of the people there. It also sounded like there's great potential for a long-term partnership with our contacts over there.

- Thursday was a long but interesting day, which held a wonderful surprise! I started the day off by working at the office for a little while and while I was there, I received a surprise message that some missionary friends of mine, who I hadn't seen in almost 2 years, were in town for vacation and wanted me to drop by and see them at their hotel if I had time. So after working a bit and having a lunch meeting in the Northeast, I went to go visit with them for a couple of hours. It was good to see them - even though they shared some frustrations and some discouragements, all in all they seemed so much happier than the last time I had seen them.

- After that, I went to the gym, came home and finished a project I needed to have done for a meeting with Walter on Friday, and then went to the Firehouse to say hi and ended up hanging out all night with friends and some of the youth.

- So Friday, after a good meeting in the morning with Walter, I began my vacation. I had a nice, leisurely lunch, then ran a couple of errands and came home to relax for awhile. It was so stinkin hot that I ended up taking a nap and then watching TV most of the evening.

- On Saturday, I woke up and went to the gym for a good workout, then came home and cleaned out my car, showered up, went to Walmart to get some vitamins and milk, then came home and hung out for awhile. At 7:30 pm, I went to Life Church to checkout their Saturday night service, which was interesting. I liked Monty's message.

- This morning, I went to the early service at Christian Joy Center, a mostly black church here in El Paso, and just loved the jubilant spirit that my brothers and sisters there have. I ended up leaving early, right when the preaching started, because it had already been over an hour and I needed to get to Del Sol to worship with MY church family. It was so good to have Walter back with us, and it was so good just to worship with my church family. As I was walking in, someone said "aren't you on vacation?" with a "why are you here if you're on vacation?" tone and I told them that I'd still come to Del Sol even if I didn't work there! =D

- Afterwards, I went to lunch with the Pryors and had a good time just enjoying being with them, then came home and took a nap, and lounged around for awhile before I started writing this post.

- And now, the vacation continues. Pray for me if you would, that I can learn to relax and unwind during this time. It's really hard for me to disconnect and unplug my mind from work, and I'd really like to do that this week. great, is just not the best way to start off a day - or a week for that matter! =)