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Dr.
William Gaultiere
Executive Director of New Hope
I have three
small children ages five and under and when one of them misbehaves
I give them a "time out." They have to go and be alone
and sit in the time out chair. I don't know about you, but I'd
like to misbehave and get a time out! Time out from fussy kids,
appointments to keep, a beeping pager, mail to open, errands to
run, a lawn to cut....
Recently I read about a study on weekend fatigue that was commissioned
by Hilton Hotels. (I'm sure the idea came from their marketing
department!) The study found that 90% of Americans feel no more
energetic at the end of the weekend than they do on Friday. It's
no wonder because, according to the study, we spend 14 hours of
our weekends (almost half of our available time) doing chores
like cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, errands, household repairs,
paying bills, and working at our jobs. It's even worse for us
parents; we give over 20 of our weekend hours to chores!
Freeways, fast food restaurants, FAX machines, instant coffee,
and all other time-saving inventions of the 20th century seem
to do just the opposite of their intention: they encourage us
to try to do more in less time. Most of us don't need any help
trying to do more! We're already hurrying from one thing to the
next!
What is the cure for all this frantic business? Two thousand years
ago Jesus said it simply (apparantly even in that day people had
trouble really slowing down), "Come onto me all you that
are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." But as
the writer of Hebrews warns us, it isn't easy to slow down and
rest in God's care for us. It's a paradox. We need to "make
every effort to enter His rest."
This past month a group of us from New Hope went on a retreat
at the Rancho Capistrano Renewal Center and we slooooowed down,
worshiped God, deepened our relationships with one another, and
had lots of fun. It was a time out that we all needed. It was
a time out that was long overdue for New Hope volunteers. It was
the first New Hope retreat in 28 years! We'll be doing another
one early next year and we like to see you there too!
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