procrastination

Why is it that it's so hard to get important stuff done that I really want to get done but that takes some effort? I am currently procrastinating, because although blogging takes some effort it's not the same as some other things, like working on editing a paper I want to see if I can get published, or reading academic things I'm interested in but that are work to get through. (Or then there's the cleaning that could be done...but I did most of that yesterday so I don't feel too bad about that!)

Anyway, while I'm writing a post, I'll tell about the weekend I just had, as referred to in my last post. We went to a really nice cabin with 10 bedrooms...it was perhaps a little TOO nice for my taste, with a TV in almost every room (flat screens) and a Wii game thingy-jobber, an automatic espresso machine, etc. But it was a nice place to be able to relax with a group of people.

My baby son didn't like it so much. We were sick last week, and just a couple days after he recovered we took him to this weird place, so he didn't sleep well, hence we didn't sleep well. But that goes with the territory of babies! He was fine during the day...and there were 2 other babies there to keep him company, so he had fun.

My parts of the retreat went well, I thought. The first night was best. The weekend theme was "Answering the Call" and I spoke on Friday night about the Call to Christ and Saturday night about the Call to Ministry in the Body of Christ. I liked the first one because I got them talking about when they first heard and responded to the Call of Christ--their conversion/convincement experience, and/or an experience of turning to Christ that has been significant since that point. It seemed like it got them talking on a deeper level with each other than they probably have before. It was cool to hear their stories, too. Then we talked about how hearing the call to Christ isn't a one-time thing, but it's a continual "renewing of our minds," as it says in Romans 12:2, which is the text I used. We have to turn and turn and turn back to Christ because we get distracted or lazy. So I presented some tools to use to practice being aware of God's presence and growing spiritually in a positive direction. It felt like that night was community building, depth-producing, and helpful. The second night was OK, but not as good.

OK, I'm going to do something more productive now. I am, I really am! Before the baby wakes up...