I needed this break

I’ve been here in Cincy since early Thursday morning. At times I’ve been distracted away from the convention itself, at times I’ve been interested in using it as a lab, at times I’ve loved it and at times I’ve loathed it. I am, by nature, a critique-er of things more than an enjoy-er of things… so it’s a struggle from the moment I park until the moment I leave to just chill out.

But here’s the thing. Part 1

I needed this. Today marks only the second worship service I’ve missed at Romeo in 2006. I don’t want to raise my hands up and say "I’m skipping church!" as a show of pride or to say that missing church is good or to give others an excuse for missing church today or something…. because that isn’t it… I just want to say to myself, "It’s probably a good thing."As Andy Stanley says, sometimes in order to work on it you’ve got to get away from it. I’ve been able to do that this week.

Here’s the thing. Part 2

This needed me. I have no real role here but to participate. But somehow in the collective spirit of it all, I needed to be here to attend and learn.

Here’s the thing. Part 3

I was and am tired. I think I needed to be here so that I could get back to just being tired… I was somewhere between exhaustion and something else on the scale of boundless energy and burn out… so I needed to step back and just chill for a few days. I want to be in this thing for the long haul… so resting is part of that. Plus, on my "time off" map… this is the very beginning of a rest period for me as I’ll have a few more days off before the end of December. That rocks!

Here’s the thing. Part 4

I don’t know how to explain this, but I think it’s actually good for Romeo that I’m not there today. In my mind I like to be there on Sunday mornings because I like to be with our people and I feel "needed." It’s good for me to be away and say "The church made it from 1840-2003 without me, it’s going to be ok if I’m not there on November 19th, 2006."

Here’s the thing. Part 5

I miss my family. I miss not having Kristen here. I see other couples here together and I wish we had been able to scrape enough money for both of us to be here. But at the same time our last vacation was "for the family" and I think there is room for me to have some time on my own.

Here’s the thing. Part 6

I’ve loved the fun times with new friends, connecting with YMX forumites, and just generally blessing people and getting blessed. I’ve loved the inside jokes and the late late late nights and butt early mornings. That said, I can’t wait to try doing this again in the future with Kristen too.