not enough days in an hour . . . .

do you ever feel as if you do not have enough days in an hour...i've long given up on having enough hours in a day! case in point. today. it is my day off. i usually guard this as sacred, and honor this faithfully. sometimes, however, i anticipate knowing that i will have to 'sneak in and sneak out' of my office. laura, our administrative assistant, does all in her power to honor this as well. this is just one of those weeks, as easter approaches, in which i knew there was just too much to do. i will be out-of-the-office for a two-and-one-half day meeting this week. if you have any understanding of what it is like to take time off before easter, you'll understand my anxiety in being away too long....thus, i knew i needed to get some additional work done. now, this may sound like a whine....and if i had cheese and crackers in my office, it might well be...but, what i have been doing this past week was putting things on 'monday' -- intentionally saying, i'll do that on monday. i alerted people to use my home e-mail address while i was gone, so i could pick up messages. i came into the office today, and actually got some things done...but so much of what i am doing also entails waiting for others to respond....they didn't respond by today. so....there will be more days ahead that do not have enough hours in them...or, more likely, more hours ahead that do not have enough days in them. do you sometimes feel like that???? in anticipation, both of needing to be renewed, and needing to get some work done, i realized that it didn't have to be one or the other; it could be both. if it were not lent i would have said that i could have my cake and eat it too....but i digress! so, i did some things that were renewing before i came into the office...i slept in (ok, i didn't get up at 5 am!) i actually had someone offer to cook me breakfast...a treat for me! someone else made me coffee! i could get use to this gift -- on my day off and everything! then i took a walk, and i strolled through the not-yet-blooming rose garden in applegate park. i was able to listen to music on my walk-person (it was on sale, ok?!) in all, i had a delightfully renewing time. time with others, time with self, time with god...not necessarily in that order. and then i came into the office; accomplished some things, and spoke to fun people, and felt like i was renewed and strengthened. i complete my bolg a day early, and even feel accomplished! renewal, i have come to understand, means a lot of different things. today, i did things differently. and i am refreshed as i leave the office. how often does that happen at this time of the year for pastors???? i'll go home and do some work and have some rest, and, i anticipate, by 7 am, i will be ready to be picked up (in the nicest/kindest/most appropriate way possible) to drive to my meeting. i won't mind getting up at 5 am tomorrow (i say this now) because i've had time away to be renewed. i even watered my plants....i kept hearing these little voices in my office that said -- we know it's lent, but can't we have just a sip of water...please?! there may never be enough days in an hour to accomplish everything, but if we can accomplish something, i call that moment grace. and with grace, it matters not when it comes...only that it does come. and if we are attentive, we'll discover it comes in every moment....