Andy Postell’s Blog

Here is a simple thought – kids just get it!. I know that the Bible teaches us that we should have the faith of a child. Now, I also realize that we should desire to grow in our faith but I truly hope to keep the excitement and sense of awe that children have. I hope to grow in my ability to run toward God with such an expectation of His presence.

I came home today after doing some of the last minute things that you do on the Friday before a new church launches. I had gone to Walmart for supplies, put out what seems like 1000 yard signs, worked on my sermon, and made sure that people were in place for the various servant positions. I came home tired and ready to just sit and rest. My son came home from school (8th grade) and was excited and joyful. I figured it was just the fact that it was Friday and that meant that he had two days away from school.

Over dinner, I asked him why he was in such a good mood. He quickly responded that he was excited for the launch. He was excited that we were going to have church every Sunday. He was excited because people were going to come to church on Sunday that might never have gone to church. Here I was tired and wanting to sit and rest and my son was excited and ready to move. I want that excitement. I wonder some times about the effect that planting a church has on my kids. Will it require too much of my time?

What I realize is that my kids are seeing the scriptures come to life. They are seeing the value of commitment. They are seeing people come back to an active faith. They are seeing the attitude of Jesus in the service opportunities. They are seeing the church working with a unified purpose. They are seeing God move in a group of people. In addition, they are feeling God move in their own life. They are excited about worship. They are excited about serving. They are getting it and they want to share it with others. I pray that we all come to that place in our life.

Here is a simple thought – I am too busy.  I dont know about you but I realized over the weekend just how busy I am. My family and I went away for three days to get some rest and have some family time before we move into the next phase of the new church. Three days away from phones, no cable, no internet – just a nice cabin in the woods away from it all.

I have to admit that it took me several days just to get ready to ‘get away’. I had severe email problems over the past week and lost all of my email contacts and I spent a good bit of time trying to rebuild my email list. In addition, I lost all my emails that I had been saving in my inbox. So, I was somewhat frustrated to say the least. How would people know that I was away and not able to return their email? Then, a friend suggested that I view this email ‘disaster’ as an opportunity. Without all of the incoming emails, I would have more time to ’sit with God.’ While it seemed like a good spin on a bad situation, I will admit that I never really contemplated the situation as an opportunity.

Then, we went to the mountains. Nestled in North Georgia and surrounded by some of the prettiest landscape I have seen in a while, I found it hard to just STOP. We went hiking, the ladies went shopping, the kids played Wii (they had a TV, just not cable). Even without the internet, phone connection, television, our way of living came through in our inability to just sit. We came back last night – tired and exhausted from vacation.

So, I walked into my house last night with this whole concept of not being able to just sit on my mind. If we couldn’t do it in the mountains away from it all, how are we going to do it here – with school, work, new church, baseball, and life in general. I figured I would veg out in front of the television and figure it out. I went to turn on the television and it didn’t work. I can’t explain it. The last thing we did when we were walking out the door for vacation was turn the television off. We come back and it has no power. So, I grabbed my Bible study and began to study. The whole time I am studying, the concept of ’sitting with God’ was on my heart. Here is where you realize that it takes me awhile for some things. It did not dawn on me until I turned off the lights and got ready to go to sleep, that I had just ’sat with God’ for an hour. In the midst of the trappings of everyday life, we have to find time to ‘just sit’. How we do it is part of the struggle. For me right now, it was not having the ability to turn the television on. It gave me space. It gave me freedom. It gave me time.

I know that we will have to get the television working but for now – I am simply going to enjoy the quiet time. I mean it is late morning and I haven’t even checked email yet. That is a big deal for me but I think it is important that we all find time to ’sit with God’. How do you do it? How do you keep yourself from getting too busy?