Time to …
On March 28, 2010, John Piper, the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, renowned speaker and author, announced that he was taking an 8 month leave to attend to his life & wife.
His marriage was not failing apart and neither has he been involved in any sin of notoriety. In his words …
“I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem.
Noël and I are rock solid in our commitment to each other, and there is no whiff of unfaithfulness on either side. But, as I told the elders, “rock solid” is not always an emotionally satisfying metaphor, especially to a woman. A rock is not the best image of a woman’s tender companion. In other words, the precious garden of my home needs tending. I want to say to Noël that she is precious to me in a way that, at this point in our 41-year pilgrimage, can be said best by stepping back for a season from virtually all public commitments.” Full text is here
It’s a humbling thought to find out he is taking this leave to nurture his life and marriage all over again. During the period he will be away from all public activity - No book-writing. No sermon preparation or preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports, No papers. And no speaking engagements.
Reading his words brings a humbling thought to me – I may not have the luxury of taking 8 months out of my daily grind but I sure can take out at least a day every month (or fortnightly) to nurture myself and the relationship that means the most to me. I don’t want to get so busy on the outside that I don’t give attention to the unseen part of me. God, help keep my eyes on the weightier matters of life.
His marriage was not failing apart and neither has he been involved in any sin of notoriety. In his words …
“I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem.
Noël and I are rock solid in our commitment to each other, and there is no whiff of unfaithfulness on either side. But, as I told the elders, “rock solid” is not always an emotionally satisfying metaphor, especially to a woman. A rock is not the best image of a woman’s tender companion. In other words, the precious garden of my home needs tending. I want to say to Noël that she is precious to me in a way that, at this point in our 41-year pilgrimage, can be said best by stepping back for a season from virtually all public commitments.” Full text is here
It’s a humbling thought to find out he is taking this leave to nurture his life and marriage all over again. During the period he will be away from all public activity - No book-writing. No sermon preparation or preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports, No papers. And no speaking engagements.
Reading his words brings a humbling thought to me – I may not have the luxury of taking 8 months out of my daily grind but I sure can take out at least a day every month (or fortnightly) to nurture myself and the relationship that means the most to me. I don’t want to get so busy on the outside that I don’t give attention to the unseen part of me. God, help keep my eyes on the weightier matters of life.
posted by tola | 2:19 PM
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