Rested And Getting Ready: Preparing for a New Season of Ministry

People often ask me if I get tired of traveling. The answer is, “Yes, but God is so kind to give energy to serve, and joy at the time of serving.” It’s true. Being away from home a lot isn’t my favorite thing, but God uses it to remind me that this is not my true home. However, in His grace, He gives us time to come back to our home to rest in preparation for what is to come. How kind.

We are currently in that period of time during the month of August. Now that camp is over, we are “home” for the most part. We’re trying to be wise in our use of this month. We are seeking physical rest, time to study/prepare, creative outlets, time together as a couple, and time with family. It’s been a wonderful two weeks! Come take a peek…

We took a couple nights to go to a favorite spot of ours (and a billion other people!) – Pigeon Forge. We stayed at Wyndham, swam in the pool, ate lunch there under an umbrella table, read and napped. We ate at our favorite places, did some shopping at the outlets and also browsed through Paula Deen’s store. We live in the mountains, but we never tire of the views of the Smokies! Just being out of town for a couple days was so relaxing!

Creative times have included some of my favorite past times – cooking, baking and watercolors! I took a picture of my neighbor’s house and painted it as a gift to them. I love its farmhouse charm. The food pics below include my favorite French Bread, and a couple new recipes that I made when we had friends over for dinner. You’ll be seeing those recipes on the blog soon!

Fellowship with our family has been so sweet. It has included bowling with our grandsons, followed by lunch at the food court at the mall. There were so many laughs and fun moments! I got to have lunch with my daughter who lives locally – always a treat! Then I have spent this week with my mom and sisters in Kentucky. There was lunch out, some shopping, appointments, housework and of course, chats! What a sweet blessing.

You may not be in full-time ministry, but do you make time to pull away from the busyness of your routines to be refreshed? Even an afternoon can be just the time you need to be ready for what’s ahead. With that being said, have you listened to my podcast series entitled, When Everyone Needs Me? You can find the first episode here.

Have a great and refreshing weekend, my friends!