You gotta come apart

Many of you know that I was mentored by several wonderful men of God, one of them, the former State Overseer of Tennessee, Bishop Eugene Weakley. Those of us who spent any time at all around the Bishop were very familiar with some of his favorite quotes. One of my favorites was, "preacher, if you don't come apart every once in a while, you'll fall apart." His meaning was simple, ministers need a little time off every once in a while, or the stress and load of the work will overwhelm you.

This last week, I took the Bishop's advice and "came apart" to spend time with my family and to recharge the batteries of ministry. I'm not sure Disney World is the best place in the world to unwind and relax, but it is the favorite place in the world for my family. I tried my best to keep up with them, but often had to just say, "I'll catch up with you at the next place."

In those times of waiting, or catching up, I had a lot of time to think and reflect on several of my actions or decisions in the past few years. If I could change some things, I certainly would, but there were other things that I would have done just the same way. In a job like mine, you make decisions with the best information you have at the time, and do your best to live out integrity and honor.

Today is my first day "back to work" and the pile is deeper, but with a renewed sense of rest and relaxation, I will start through it systematically. Someone once asked, "how do you eat an elephant?" The old fellow in the room answered, "one bite at a time."

Special thanks to the state staff that works so faithfully, and special thanks to the District Presbyters who help carry the load to keep me from falling apart. God bless you is my prayer.