Sometimes I think my body is telling me I don’t need to sleep, I just need to think.

Over the last several weeks I’ve been thinking and preparing for my retirement. 

There is a lot to do, a lot to think about. 

I remember years ago when we took our kids to Disney World. They were the perfect ages. They were old enough to go on all the rides, with energy to keep going each day without getting tired. But they were still young enough to be mesmerized by the magical atmosphere of the Disney experience. 

It was a fun trip, but the fun partly came at the expense of Lily’s planning. 

We only had one day at each park so we really needed to maximize our time to wring every ounce of Disney out of our experience … and that took planning. 

Lily researched, read books and made lots of notes. So when we arrived at the park early each morning (too early), she had devised a game plan of our every move that day. 

For Karlie, Mike and me, we just followed her lead, but Lily had already invested hours into orchestrating our dance of the Disney park that day. 

Her mind was going from morning to night. She stayed up late planning every detail like when the right time would be to get the fast pass for Space Mountain. 

Lily didn’t sleep much on that trip; her mind was going non-stop. … Hey, she could sleep when the trip was over, right?

Well I feel a little like that right now. I have sermons still to write, files to leave for the next pastor and notes to make. 

I have my office that needs to be cleaned out. That is not quick or easy. What do I keep? What stays and what gets tossed? 

Then there are all the emotions – thoughts of people I care about, memories and experiences. 

There are the things I wish I had done and the things that didn’t go the way I’d hoped. 

There are thoughts of what it will be like when my retirement starts. 

The crazy thing is that my days are busy enough with the present tasks that my mind has to reserve some of these thoughts for the wee hours of the night. 

I’m pretty good until the lights go out and my head hits the pillow. I used to conk out within a few minutes, but right now that’s when my thoughts kick into high gear. 

Who needs sleep when you have thoughts? 

Sleep is to give our bodies and minds a rest. But I have a war going on in me that’s making it harder for me to focus when I should be awake. 

Maybe I can look at it like Lily did our trip – I’ll get sleep when the trip is over … when I retire. 

I guess, until then, who needs sleep anyway?

Here’s the thing: There is coming a time for all of us when we won’t be thinking about and planning for the future. Our future will all be settled. But until that time comes, we should use our minds to contemplate what God has in store for us and prepare properly for that time. This all starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ. So spend time thinking about and securing that relationship while you can. You’ll sleep later. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has been keeping you up at night? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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