Tuesday Tales: Writing Retreat...Sort Of

 

I had such a lovely post planned for you today. It is not happening.

                So I’ll tell you all about the plan that was not and the plan B that was.

                Jonathan periodically takes some planning/writing retreats to map out future sermons, create series ideas, and write messages. A few weeks ago, I decided I should follow suit, primarily because I have a six-week Sunday School curriculum package I want to write for one of the classes at our church. It will be used in June and, well, it’s April right now. June is starting to stare at me a little bit.

                Taking ANY time away from the office prior to Easter was not possible, so I decided to take the week after Easter to write, plan, dream, create, and catch up. It felt like the perfect timing to follow the busyness of Holy Week.

                And then I realized there are so many things about Holy Week that need to be recapped in notes for next year while still fresh in my mind. AND my inbox had gotten ridiculously out of control during that week. So, I reasoned, if I worked a regular day on Monday and took the rest of the week as a retreat, that would be best.

                And then I realized that I shouldn’t miss the staff meeting after Easter, because that’s when we debrief all things Holy Week. And we would need to tear down the rooms we had set up for Journey to the Cross so they could return to their regular use. So, I reasoned, if I worked a regular day on Monday and Tuesday and took the rest of the week as a retreat, that would be best.

                And then I realized that I shouldn’t miss (nor did I want to miss) teaching Bible study after a two week break for spring break and Holy Week. So, I reasoned, if I worked from home on Wednesday, I could semi-retreat, do some writing, and then head to church to teach Bible study that night.

                And then I realized that I shouldn’t miss (nor did I want to miss) teaching Bible study on Thursday morning either. So, I reasoned, if I went to Bible study on Thursday morning and then semi-retreated in the afternoon, that would be best.

                And then I realized that we had a visitation and funeral for a church member on Friday. So, I reasoned, if I semi-retreated in the morning, I could attend the funeral and visitation in the afternoon, and that would work.

                It would all be okay because I could always use THIS week as my backup retreating week.

                Except…we had another funeral yesterday. And we have only a couple more days to get my parents’ belongings out of their apartment. And I’m speaking at a women’s conference on Saturday. And the dog has been sick for about four days.

                The good news? The three partial days I had to write were blissfully productive. I wrote three messages across those days.

                The bad news? Don’t ask about that curriculum. I haven’t even touched it yet.

                The good news? I do tend to be creative under pressure.

                I see why people actually LEAVE to retreat! There just might be something to that.

                Thanks for coming to story time with Bekah. And please know that I am not the least bit upset about it. I’ll just retreat a few hours at a time over the next few weeks and all will be well!