day 715: Weekend Work (repost)

"I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer."

Ever notice how your briefcase is more full on Friday afternoon than any other day of the week? It's because we all do it; we take home our "weekend work" with us and vow on Friday to set aside some time over the weekend to "catch up" and/or "clean out". And then somewhere along the way in the weekend amidst seeing friends, being with family, going out, going to church, watching TV, etc. the work gets relegated and pushed back to Sunday night. I am notorious for doing this. I bring home my briefcase stuffed with the "extra" things I am going to get done and then never get to most of it so it gets lugged back into the office on Monday morning. Email even makes it worse as all of the catch up messages are sitting there staring at me all weekend long. I also notice a change in my demeanor as the weekend time gets closer and closer to weekend work time. I feel myself begin to slip back into a higher stress mode and I know my mood changes outwardly as I tune out everything else around me. Even though I ask for permission from my wife to do so, I still end up feeling bad that I am taking away weekend time from her to complete work stuff. I admire those who never bring home their work, but I am pretty sure that I am not alone when I say that I never have found another way. The weekend work and the burden that comes with it can become automatic to us. I often wonder if we don't just put more and more burdens and troubles on ourselves because we are just built to do so. Achievers just like to take on more. And the more we take on the more burdensome it feels. It may well be that we are taking our troubles and burdens to the wrong place.

In Psalm 120:1 we read: "I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer." This is where we should be taking our troubles and burdens. What if we were to say that our weekend work was to spend more time in prayer, asking God to take our troubles and burdens and allow Him to work through them? That is what He wants to do and that is what He wants us to do. Don't get me wrong, God is not going to clean out the email inbox for us, but He can give us the strength, the positive attitude, the peace, and the discernment to figure out how to be more efficient and productive. This weekend instead of doing as we always do, let's try bringing the troubles to God first and do some crying out and then let Him do his marvelous and wonderful works. Start there first and then begin feeling the load lighten! Have a great weekend!

Reference: Psalm 120:1 (New Living Testament)

day 385: Everybody's Working For The Weekend

Do you know the tune that goes with, "Everybody's working for the weekend?" It's an old Loverboy song from the 1980's and it can be heard on the radio on Fridays and hummed under the breath of people as they head out the door on Friday afternoon. This time of the year when the blossoms are on the trees and the flowers are starting to push up and bloom, spring fever starts to set in and we look more forward to the weekends. So much to do, so little time, and those two days become precious and a bit of a weekly obsession. Conversations around the break room turn to "what are you up to this weekend?" and you can hear the priorities of soccer and baseball games, yard work, travel, friend time, etc. After a hard week's work sometimes there is nothing better than just being home with family and shutting off the email, phone calls, and text messages and just finding time to read, catch up on DVR'd TV, movies or simply just vegg out. The weekend is also the time given to us to recenter on Sunday with our time in church. However it is done, we look to the weekends to recharge and regroup for the week ahead. I continually marvel at how those who came before us, particularly in the Old Testament would with all their hardships, challenges and obstacles, consistently look to the Lord for their respite. Some will say that it was easier then to focus and be close to the Lord as they didn't have the distractions of 500 cable channels or a new ipad to play with. But, I don't think that any generation had it easier than we do today to focus on the Lord, if we choose. While we rest in the weekends, let's remember that while the Sabbath was a day of doing nothing for them, the other six days were about hunting, gathering, fighting, protecting and surviving in the elements and using every hour of sunlight for existence. There was no "weekend" other than one day when they were required to not lift a hand and focus on God. We would do well to learn from the lessons of those who came before us. Not the law of the Sabbath, but the focus on God for their rest and renewal. King David says in Psalm 27:4; "The one thing I ask of the Lord-the thing I seek most-is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Imagine if we could honestly say the same how our perspective on work and living would change? While we may still be working for the weekend, our overall focus and priorities would be so set that each and every day would be like a weekend of rest with our Lord. This weekend, take at least the time in church to reflect on the true meaning of our purpose at work and let God fill you with the energy and spirit to bring glory to Him in all that you do.

Reference: Psalm 27:4 (New Living Testament)

day 107: Weekend Work

Ever notice how your briefcase is more full on Friday afternoon than any other day of the week? It's because we all do it; we take home our "weekend work" with us and vow on Friday to set aside some time over the weekend to "catch up" and/or "clean out". And then somewhere along the way in the weekend amidst seeing friends, being with family, going out, going to church, watching TV, etc. the work gets relegated and pushed back to Sunday night. I am notorious for doing this. I bring home my briefcase stuffed with the "extra" things I am going to get done and then never get to most of it so it gets lugged back into the office on Monday morning. Email even makes it worse as all of the catch up messages are sitting there staring at me all weekend long. I also notice a change in my demeanor as the weekend time gets closer and closer to weekend work time. I feel myself begin to slip back into a higher stress mode and I know my mood changes outwardly as I tune out everything else around me. Even though I ask for permission from my wife to do so, I still end up feeling bad that I am taking away weekend time from her to complete work stuff. I admire those who never bring home their work, but I am pretty sure that I am not alone when I say that I never have found another way. The weekend work and the burden that comes with it can become automatic to us. I often wonder if we don't just put more and more burdens and troubles on ourselves because we are just built to do so. Achievers just like to take on more. And the more we take on the more burdensome it feels. It may well be that we are taking our troubles and burdens to the wrong place. In Psalm 120:1 we read: "I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer." This is where we should be taking our troubles and burdens. What if we were to say that our weekend work was to spend more time in prayer, asking God to take our troubles and burdens and allow Him to work through them? That is what He wants to do and that is what He wants us to do. Don't get me wrong, God is not going to clean out the email inbox for us, but He can give us the strength, the positive attitude, the peace, and the discernment to figure out how to be more efficient and productive. This weekend instead of doing as we always do, let's try bringing the troubles to God first and do some crying out and then let Him do his marvelous and wonderful works. Start there first and then begin feeling the load lighten! Have a great weekend!

Reference: Psalm 120:1 (New Living Testament)