Busy Days

I'm grabbing a couple of minutes to eat, and to stop in here.  Today and tomorrow will be absolutely nuts as we wrap up the Toy Shoppe here at work.

Pray for us, that we will have patience and grace with people who are upset, and that we will have strength through the crazy busyness of the next few days.

I'll be back later tonight with the daily 5 and today's reverb 10 post.  I think the reverb 10 topic for the day is travel - always one of my favorite discussion topics!

Morning.

What I would have really liked to have for breakfast this morning was Mcdonald's.  A sausage and cheese mcgriddles, hold the egg, to be exact.  What I'm actually eating is a bowl of instant oatmeal.  There was no Mcdonalds in easy walking distance.

Today is the crazy final preparations for the conference.

I head to Edmonton late this afternoon, and tomorrow I welcome 300 Mennonites to a 5 Star hotel.  This is the fourth time I've done this, but the first time that I've been mostly in charge, and the first time we've done it in an urban setting - it's always been at a mountain resort in the years I've been doing it.  300 Mennonites, ranging in age from infant to probably well into their eighties, and ranging in practice from Old Colony to very modern city mennonite.

It's always a unique weekend.

And, I've been so busy this week that I haven't managed to schedule posts for the next several days, and likely won't get to it today.

So, it'll probably be quiet around here.  If I have internet access at the hotel, I'll try to log in with the daily 5 posts, but even those may have to wait.

I'm back later on Saturday evening.  I'll either see you then, or sometime on Sunday if I don't manage to check in before that!

Likely Quieter Today

Work is out of control busy in the last several working days leading up to next weekend's conference, and I'm feeling the pressure.

I'll be working Monday, when everyone else is off.  They'll give me lieu time for however many hours I work, which is a nice trade.

But it's crazy busy, and I'm not likely going to have time to write here much on the working days. 

Over the weekend, if I have time, I'll try to schedule some posts to go live during the week, and then during the conference.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm grateful that I got a little bit of sleep last night.  It wasn't much, but it was slightly better than it has been.

And with that, I'm off to start tackling the very long list of things left to do.

And on it goes

This week seems like the unending stream of crazy, and it's starting to wear on me.

Work has been nuts, and today is no exception.  The list of things to accomplish is huge.  And some of them are key - like, say, payroll.

I've now not slept in four nights either, thanks to disturbing dreams.

One night in particular I spent the whole night dreaming that there were Daddy-Long-Legs spiders crawling all over me, but particularly all over my face and arms.

I've definitely hit the wall of my ability to absorb and process without some down time, and my sleep is reflecting that.

At least it's very nearly the weekend.  This week in particular I'm really anticipating Saturday and Sunday.

Crazy Days

Today will be one of the busiest days of the year at the office.

It sort of figures that the busiest day would come on a day when I am also in "weird intercessor space".

So, I'm going to spend most of the day weighing envelopes, and while I'm doing that relatively mindless task, I'll be thinking and pondering and praying.

Because, as someone once said, "that's how I roll."

At least I managed to remember to bring my lunch with me today.

Now, if I can only get warm, we'll be in business.

I'm pondering Philippians 1, and Romans 8, and praying for the concerns of several.

For friends whose mom begins chemotherapy this week, diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer where the goal is simply to give her as much time remaining as possible.

For another friend who climbs on a plane today, headed from the school she attends at a church in California to Rwanda, for a few weeks of ministry there.

And for so many others whom my heart knows and loves.

I'm praying and working. Seems like a good combination.

Stop and Breathe

Today, like every other day in the office this week, has been packed full.

Between working on a major project that the goal is to have out the door by tomorrow afternoon, and training our new receptionist, as well as handling the various other responsibilities that come with my job, I get to the end of the receptionist's work day (she is working shorter days, not quite full-time), and realize that I've hardly stopped to catch my breath since I arrived at the office hours and hours before.

So, I'm taking just a moment to stop and breathe, to promise that the blog will eventually get back to having more than these "I'm insanely busy" style posts. Maybe on the weekend. Or next week. If life slows down. Which it definitely should quite soon now. Until then, I'll just keep taking moments to stop and breathe, and promise that I am still reading the various blogs I follow, whether or not I'm commenting. And many of you are saying great stuff, or funny stuff, or just stuff that I've enjoyed, so keep writing!

And I'll be back to writing properly soon too. I hope.

Crazyness!

Just stopping in for a minute on my lunch break. Life is looking a little crazy from now until the moment right up until I leave.

People to see. Errands to run. Dozens of things to accomplish at the office. My temporary replacement to start training tomorrow. All sorts of things that have sat by the wayside for the last few weeks of busyness to catch up on. Cleaning to do.

Feeling slightly frazzled, and like I'm moving in 17 directions at once. Not loving the feeling, but knowing that it's really short term!

Later!

Stealing rest

I am struggling with scheduling issues at the moment... with figuring out which things can stay, and which might need to go, to make space for the time I'm increasingly feeling is necessary to spend with Jesus in this season.

This week in particular is extraordinarily busy - something scheduled after work every night. All lovely and wonderful things, all things I think that God is in, none of them things that can be dropped or postponed.

I told a friend last night that it's becoming clear to me that this week I'm going to have to steal those moments of peace and rest wherever I can find them. Taking the bus for an hour and half home each day, grocery shopping alone, standing in the shower, as I'm studying to prepare for the small group I lead that meets this week, walking to meet various friends for tea and coffee dates, resting in my chair for a few minutes before bed, with candles and incense...

I believe that Jesus is present in the busyness and in the rest, I'm just feeling a need to change the balance of busyness and rest in my life for a season. But for this week, I'm trusting that He'll honor the moments of rest that I'm able to steal, and gift me with His presence in a tangible way.

A million miles an hour...

My brain and body are going a million miles an hour today. I've managed to secure the full day off on Friday, instead of the half day I'd planned, and that means that there is much to accomplish in the next two work days. Tomorrow could be worse. A major mailout needs to be on it's way to the post office before I leave tomorrow, and two of the documents that need to be included won't have final approval for me to print them until first thing tomorrow morning. It doesn't help that both of them are multi-page documents, and will require at least a couple hours to complete all the printing and photocopying. I may be working a bit late tomorrow...

I'm sort of amped up today - adrenaline maybe? It's really the only thing that makes sense given that I slept very poorly again last night...

And with that, I'm off... things to finish before my lunch break, and dozens of things to do before the end of the afternoon... church leadership meeting at mom and dad's tonight, over dinner, and then I'm going home to do laundry, and crash on my couch for an hour to watch the new Grey's Anatomy spin-off "Private Practice"

See you around!