EDITORIAL
<HOME>

I had just gotten the email.  A publisher was interested in a manuscript I had written.  The editor wanted a copy of that manuscript as well as a proposal sent to him ASAP.  I didn’t have a proposal, per say, but I was more than capable of developing one.  I get six hours into the job, shut off my computer for the day, get up early the next morning, and—you guessed it—the computer wouldn’t start.

Sound familiar?  Everybody’s got a similar story.  Maybe it’s a job interview and the car won’t start.  Maybe it’s a important date with the girl (or guy, for you ladies out there) of your dreams and a zit pops out on your nose.  Maybe it’s a typical Sunday morning, when that thread that’s been threatening to come unraveled on your best shirt has finally done so, taking a sleeve with it, or the kids have decided to repaint the kitchen with their Crayola water colors, or maybe the dog has decided to take out the trash—take it out to the living room, that is.  It seems like anytime God is planning to move, the devil has to come in and mess everything up as fast as possible.

I’ve been there.  More times than I can count.  But as my cousin reminded me Sunday in a last-minute sermon he threw together to fill in for my pastor, who’d come down with a virus, the interruptions of life are nothing compared to what Job suffered through.  I mean, that guy had everything taken from him.  He lost the farm.  He lost his kids.  He lost his dog.  He lost his wife.  Still, he stayed faithful to God.

All it takes for me to break a commandment or two is an ill-timed traffic jam.

I’m convinced that one of the keys to having a well-adjusted, relatively stress-free life is learning to deal with down time.  Why am I convinced?  Because that’s one thing I’ve never been able to do, and that’s the one thing those around me who do have seemingly well-adjusted, relatively stress-free lives seem eerily adept at.

As you face the last few weeks of summer, just try to remember that downtime is just God’s way of spending a little more time with you.  I know I’ll certainly try to keep it in mind the next time I’m sitting in bumper-to-bumper gridlock and banging my head against the steering wheel.