Relaxation is vital...

March 24 - March 28
So now that the Liberty team is gone it seems very quiet around here. After they left, the week was all about relaxation for us. The first two days were down days in a major way. Since we had taken the students to the airport at 4:00am in the morning, we went back to the seminary to sleep for a couple of hours before making the two hour drive back to Budejovice. Once we did get back in town, I was down for the rest of the day. I was able to catch up on my emails and some other tasks I needed to work on. I relaxed. The rest of the week was pretty much the same. We had all been so busy for ten days that we needed some time to not focus on anything or worry about anything. So Ron decided to treat us all to a day at the local spa. They call it a spa but it was really more of a health and wellness center. Either way, we all spent the afternoon soaking in a hot tub. Strange as it may seem, I actually felt a little guilty about this. I didn't know what all I would be doing here but I definitely didn't expect that I would sitting in a hot tub or getting a massage from the salon across the street. My supporters are also probably wondering if they could have spent their money on something other than sending a girl to Europe to be pampered. However, this was not our typical tasks but still an important activity for our ministry. I work at a church and understand how hectic things can be. I work around pastors who rarely have down time because there are people to visit, sermons to write, counseling to be done, and tons of other various tasks that come with the territory. But they know the importance in taking time to relax otherwise they become burnt out and are no longer effective. And what would be the point of even having a ministry if it is not effective? Now I have seen how busy missionaries can be. There is always something to be done, from making contacts to keeping up with communications in the States to actually doing a ministry activity. Yet I thought when I was giving up two months of my life to come to the mission field that I would be giving up many luxuries and comforts. Sitting in a hot tub didn't seem like missionary work but relaxation was vital to my ministry. God doesn't want us to be so busy that we never have time to take a break and enjoy the blessings that He has given us. Doing ministry in Czech may be in a different language than ministry in the U.S. but it is still ministry. I take the time to relax and pamper myself at home why should I not take the time to relax here? Yes, I gave a lot of things up. But my sanity is not one of them nor is it one I am willing to part with. Especially in a foreign country where everything is different to me.