I'm refreshed

It's not that I got any more sleep than usual, it was the simple fact that I got away. During a full and busy summer, I had a vacation! I started out my summer blogging about what I was anticipating, and I just finished it a few days ago....TAHOE! One full week. Relaxing. Beautiful. Ahh. For Californians it like a cheap Hawaii. Thank you God for creating it and giving my family the opportunity to go. It's a special place that we've gone with my wife's family for the past 5 summers, now my kids get to enjoy it.

Despite cold water, we loved the beach. The above picture is me with my oldest daughter. It was so fun (and surreal) to just float together with my little, almost 2 1/2 year old. The conversations were hilaroius and memories...so lasting.

During down time I read, (thanks to family members who entertained my daughters). I read (half-way) John Eldridge's new book, Fathered By God, but also this article by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly (No EW is not a gossip mag, although I'm often embarrassed to be seen reading it in public by it's covers one would wonder if it was some tabloid). It's actually a great source for me to stay connected to (and praying) for pop culture as well as my main source for what movies to see.

Anyway, the famous Stephen King talked about being addicted to "screens." TV's, Computers, Phones, etc. You really should read the article and ask yourself if you spend too much time watching Youtube, facebooking or.... reading blogs maybe?

As I read it, I was so glad I decided to go through my vacation week SANS computer. That's right a full seven days, 168 hours with no email, facebooking, or twitter..and because reception was spotty up in Tahoe, my thumbs rarely were seen trying to text message (unless it was my wife) and my iPhone was forced to take some alone time, too. It was so nice to be completely free. I had much time to play, read, and not feel the need to check messages. I felt very out of the loop. It felt like 1999 again, when I didn't have an email, laptop, and the only phone I owned had a cord. I'll have to try that again. Seriously, I need to consider disciplining myself more. I already have an outgoing message on my cell phone almost apologizing for not getting back to people quickly. It's just too much sometimes. What is it with our culture? Instant and constant accessibility: Texts, emails, facebook, twitter, fax machines, and those annoying cups with strings ...
More on this later...and more on being refreshed..looking forward to what's next!