During the past few months, the leadership team at Peoples Church has been reading through Revision by Dr. John Bowling.  It's a good read about renewing your passion and commitment in your work, ministry, and life.  Plenty of takeaways to catalyze change and/or renewed energy in anything that you do!  Here is a small excerpt from the chapter titled "ReFRESH":

      "Leaders are men and women of the horizon--looking out there into the future, standing on tiptoes, leaning forward, faces pressed toward the glass to catch a glimpse beyond the now.  The task of helping refresh one's work and life is embedded in the ability to see something new.  Once they see the future, others begin to see it as well.  Vision carries with it a magnetic power..."

      It's so easy to get distracted by what we will call Cows (crisis of the week).  These are issues that happen in our work and our home life that keep us running at an absurd speed, constantly putting out fires, and feeling like nothing is being changed or produced through our efforts.  When chasing Cows for a long period of time, passion will diminish and all you will have left is apathy.  The enemy of enthusiam and the ability to see something new is always apathy. 

     Let's bring this to a personal level.  What's your "next" in your life?  Not what your next home will be or vacation you are saving for.  Where in your life is their fresh vision, magnetic power?  Have you been distracted by the Cows for so long that all you have left to give your spouse and children is indifference?  Of course we would never intend for this to happen...but it can and does happen. We know this.  We've lived it.  If you find yourself running on empty, I want to leave you with some encouragement and direction.  The best place to start is by praying a simple, yet life altering prayer, "Lord, stir in me a holy passion!"  Simple and to the point, yet once prayed prepare for the Lord to begin the work only He can do.  You will find that He does not demand for you to merely do more or try harder, but it is an invitation to His rest. When in His rest, you will find that your heart can finally be refreshed!

Psalm 23:1-3 "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul..."