Good to be Back - 20 November 2006

Do you get that "Monday morning feeling"?  Maybe you have it right now!

Having enjoyed the privilege of a sabbatical for 3 1/2 months, last week I had the mother of all "Monday morning feelings"!  Having gone through a period of minimum responsibility and very little pressure or time commitments, to return to the "real world" was quite a challenge.

Before starting my sabbatical I spoke in church on Hope, I was reminded of this as I sat at the Cape of Good Hope and I return full of it.

I have learnt many things during my sabbatical, one of which is that I have been living with too much stress and pressure, to have the break was good, but on returning I have a resolve not to allow the pressure to return to the previous levels!

In fact I quite enjoyed returning to "normal" work - living without any pressure is good for a while, but we actually need some stress and some structure, to our lives.  So one of my challenges now is to get the balance right.

At the beginning of this week most of us face a similar challenge but if you are feeling overwhelmed remember that:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lam 3:22, 23 (NIV)

It's good to be back.

Martin