Wk 2: R & R (Read & Read)

This past week just flew by!  Here’s a sampling of our daily routine for your amusement:

• Go to the Rec Center to exercise for an hour.
• Eat & hit the books at the library for 5 hours straight.
• Eat & go back to the library for another 5!

You might be wondering, “What kind of torturous R & R is that? I thought a Sabbatical was supposed to be rest & relaxation?“  Well, in case you don’t know, we are professional nerds to the n-th degree.  In fact, we rank in the top 95.7th percentile of nerds and are diagnosed with HBS (“Heavy Butt Syndrome”).  When we study, we feel God’s pleasure! We’re thoroughly enjoying our R & R before our kids arrive in a couple of days.  And when they arrive, they’ll sit with us and join in the family fun as Kristen studies for the PSAT and Taylor his LSAT.

Honestly, we’ve been really enjoying our time reading and reading.  We’ve been plowing through the Bible and are half way through.  Since I’m an audio-reader, I listen to an mp3 of the Bible while reading/highlighting the text on my Bible.  It allows me to keep a good pace, especially through all the tricky pronunciations of names.  Before each book, I get a nice overview from How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour by Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart.  And while I am on the treadmill, I listen to Old Testament Survey Class Lectures by Dr. Stuart (I took his class during seminary but it is available free through http://www.biblicaltraining.org).

We also finished some secular books that have interesting implications for ministry and leadership: Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and The Tipping Point (we became fans after his Outliers).  Perhaps even more relevant is Dr. Henry Cloud’s Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality (which I read in one sitting on my Kindle).  But don’t let the title fool you; it is actually more than just ethical or moral integrity. Integrity is about the kind of character that:

1. Creates and maintains trust
2. Is able to see and face reality
3. Works in a way that brings results
4. Embraces negative realities and solves them
5. Causes growth and increase
6. Achieves transcendence and meaning in life

There are a lot of lessons that I need to apply to my life and ministry and I’m sure I’ll be posting more about it later.

We’re having other fun as well.  Once in a while we watch an episode of The Waltons (yes John-Boy, it’s that old 1970’s TV show!).  I grew up watching that when I was a kid, and so I bought the DVD of the first season a while back so that our kids would know why I like to wear old-fashioned clothing! We also ventured out to Chinatown and had a blast at Yaohan plaza (which is Ranch 99 raised to the 3rd power). Susanna found all kinds of exotic foods that she remembers from Cambodia. Thankfully, we passed on durian, fresh frog, and soft-shelled turtles.

Exotic Rambutan fruit from Thailand in a Chinese market in Canada!