I’m not in therapy…yet. 🙂 But they say a good therapist is one who listens and lets you get it all out. I’ve got some things to get out, and I might as well do it here.
I’ve got to quit going to funerals. Check that: I’ve got to stop being sick in bed all week, missing pastoral team retreat, feeling guilty, preaching about what it means to be a Christ-like husband and father and THEN going to funerals. It’s not a good combination for a hyper-responsible first born.
I remember in college I interned with my old youth pastor in Seattle, working with their small youth group there, and at one point he told me I just needed to lighten up and stop being so serious. It sort of took me back, because I like to laugh and tease with the best of them, but I got his point. I don’t have to walk around with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I can have fun and enjoy life. And I think I got the message pretty well through my 20’s. But now I think it’s time to rehearse those old lessons again.
I’m gonna try and learn again how to chuck the hyper-responsibility stuff, if that’s ok with you. I’ll need help. I’m not so good at it.
I want to have fun. I want to have joy. I want to be remembered more like Dick Cadd was remembered today: optimistic, seeing the good in others, joyful, laughing, care free, and fun. So I’m gonna go home, and I’m going to tell this to Elaine, and I’m going to tease my kids and tackle them, and I’m not going to let the mountains of responsibility and expectation for NFC rest on me anymore. I’m going to let them sit piled up right here in my office, and if one of you wouldn’t mind stopping by here sometime before I come back tomorrow, and kicking that pile of responsibility and expectation, I’d appreciate it.
I’m also going to work at less self-deprecation, if that’s ok with you. My wife says I did that a little too much today, and that lo and behold I actually am a pretty good husband! 🙂
So that’s it for now. Thanks for listening. Please send me the bill at your earliest convenience.
Perhaps you could practice a little non-violent resistance to your pile of responsibility and expectation…
I hear the wood ministry is looking for wood cutters. It would be cheaper than therapy and it’s for a good cause…Think about it.