Chaotic resting. Is it possible to recharge on the go?

Many would say you cannot. I tend to disagree. Some of my most effective re-charging happens when I’m on the move. Perhaps that statement in itself is just an obvious affirmation that I am, surprise-surprise, a stereotypical extrovert. Or maybe to you more seasoned (older) people, it just reveals to an immaturity attributed to the “dude in his mid-thirties” perspective? Maybe because of the nature of my work this last decade, I’ve just learned to rest in strange (possibly unhealthy) ways? Maybe it is just a strange combination of all of those. But for the sake of this writing, I’m ok with any way you see it.

I think it can be stated, however, that certain types of rest are appropriate for certain seasons of life. This month a chaotic, quick-moving break was exactly what I needed. The back story is this: my role with A Jesus Mission now has essentially taken me off of the road and dropped me into an office space. I don’t spend every day of the year there, however, I do find myself in a strange new season of “going to work”. Sometimes, Sarah even convinces me to pack a lunch.

I always avoid taking a packed lunch to my office. Maybe, subconsciously, that is because it seems like a form of admitting that I’m not going anywhere. If you know me at all, you know I love to be on the move. Being out and about where the people are is what fuels me.

Some days, sitting in an office space sending emails and making phone calls has the potential to really discourage me. It feels as though I’ve reverted back to the day job I quit so many years ago. And yet, I am fully aware that this work is outrageously different.
The thing is, I don’t need to fear the constraints of my office chair — because a full embrace of it is the correct response for this season. So now we find ourselves back at my original question. Is it possible to re-charge on the go? The answer for me seems always to be yes.

This last week has been amazingly restful, yet to the few who knew the details of the trip I just took, they found themselves exhausted simply hearing it’s itinerary.

This week I got on a plane with our Executive Director, Pierce Westfall. We had looked for the cheapest ticket we could find that would take us to a remote destination where we could shelter in place, turn off our phones, play a couple of rounds of golf, and look to the future of this ministry.

So, I write this now from Brisbane, Australia. We are currently at a coffee shop enjoying unlimited refills on fantastic cold-brew, tackeling some of the projects we never seem to have time to finish, and using a few days of rest to refocus our attention. I assure you, after these few days off, I am more excited than ever for the future of A Jesus Mission. I’m sunburnt from playing golf south of the equator, jet-lagged and confused about what day it is, and incredibly thankful for my wife and a team of co-workers who enabled us to fly to the other side of the world and take a couple of days to rest. Thank you guys.

Tonight we fly back to America, where we have a couple of quick meetings on the road to complete before returning to our homes and offices to wrap up 2019. Thank you to those who enabled us to go get recharged and hit the reset button before we dive into 2020.

I am truly excited about where God is leading us, and for the future of this ministry. This was the most chaotic week possible, yet I’m feeling incredibly rested. So yeah, I guess the answer is that you can indeed recharge on the go. But it needs to be done with the right perspective on why we rest, and why we go the rest of the year. Now, let’s go quickly as the church in the world, to equip the found and find the lost! For we’ve no time to waste!

~Andy