Still got room to grow...

That was me and my brother-in-law on Sunday.

FLYING across Lac Brome (Quebec, Eastern Townships) in a Laser 2 doing close to twenty knots at one point, in near-storm conditions.

It was Sunday morning and, instead of preaching at THE WELL we were 8.5 hours away on our first weekend off in ten months.

And I wasn't happy.

See, when you plant and pastor a Church it grows into this 'thing' that consumes much of your time, talent, treasure and mind-space.  Once you actually commit to the thing (which, for us, took about eight months) it becomes a 'part' of who you are; you connect to it in a way that doesn't really ever allow you to have *actual* time off.

Unless you're so far away you CAN'T get back in time and you have something to do that'll take your mind off the fact that you've GOT to get back in time.

Something like (for me) sailing.

See, I'd woken up totally grumpy that morning.  I knew church was getting ready, knew I wasn't going to be there and it had me in a state.  My sweet wife (who knew what was happening to me) grabbed my arm at one point. "Look at that wind..." she said.  "I know..." said I, "It looks crazy..." 

Then she smiled at me.

"Why don't you go out in it with Aaron?"

Why don't I?

You don't have to ask me that question more than once.

Before you knew it I was out the door, down at the beach, rigging a Laser 2 getting ready to go out in wind so big if you weren't an expert you were sure to capsize in seconds.

(sure enough, some 'non-experts' tried and had to be rescued...)

Aaron came down, looked at the wind, then looked at me. See, he's new to sailing.  Loving it, but new to it.  "Will we be alright?" he asked.  "Alright?  Dude, it'll be much better than 'alright', trust me..."

And off we went.

Into what turned out to be a top five (in my entire life) sailing experience and I've been sailing since I was a kid.

Wicked.

And here's what I remembered as a result of the experience:

First, even though you might be middle-aged (or approaching that season in life as I am...) you still have many great experiences ahead of you and many great things to learn and apply.

See, I'm a very experienced sailor, as a result of a lifetime of being involved in the sport.  If I hadn't had that experience I wouldn't have been able to *have* that experience on Sunday.

POINT: your life experience to this point hasn't been a waste.  It may not be applied all the time but the time is coming when it will, so be encouraged.

Secondly, I had to use all of my experience to survive that sail. It was that intense.  This means I haven't 'arrived' yet as the uber-sailor of uber-sailors.

POINT: remember to stay humble and excited 'cause (despite your experience) you've got lots to learn and that should keep you eager (at the same time) for 'more', 'cause you've got more coming.

And, yes, I forgot about church for two hours.

POINT: there is hope even for us ('focused', 'sold my life to this thing') types that we might reach a place where we can have fun, relax for a minute, forget our 'life mission', act like a kid and rip it.

Now go do it.

T