sleep is overrated

hey-- it's been a while! lots of big things going on at the drenner home and church, too much to find time for my brain to downshift and write something. linus was born sept. 1 at 2:45 a.m.-- just in time to avoid a potential argument about when he should start school. texas law will decide that now. he'll start kindergarten in 2013. instead of the youngest, he should be the oldest in his class. planning is always important!

and no, he is not sleeping through the night. please do not ask. i promise i will announce it from the rooftops when it happens. so christy and i are a little sleep deprived-- so what? the little guy has to eat every 3-4 hours, and he is usually very good about informing us of grub time! and linus has not been the only activity in my life keeping me awake at nights. here are some more, not in any significant order:

1. selling a home in duncanville in a less-than-ideal market. if i hear another report of a housing slowdown or foreclosure warning i will lose my mental capabilities. our second offer fell through last week-- this after seven months!! but the next day a new one came through, which looks good. i'll sleep when the house sells.

2. the search for a new youth director, while trying to coordinate youth events at the same time. hopefully this process will come to a resolution faster than the house deal! but we got off to a great start last night-- thanks again, loper family! it was really fun, and honestly i sort of longed for the days when i was a youth director in missouri city, tx. i'll sleep when we have a new youth person in place.

3. reaching a resolution with a piece of property the church has owned for 60 years. i think i was the last pastor in the north texas conference to know about these 100 acres-- which is absolutely no surprise at all. long story short, distant family members sued the church to reclaim the property. after years and years of negotiation, we have a settlement. there's a confidentiality agreement in place, so i can't say more. plus you're already bored. i'll sleep when the property is sold and we move on to the next complicated, delicate church issue.

4. the ongoing (weekly) work of the building committee, trying to implement the church's new vision for the future. it's a delicate balance we are trying to achieve, making sure everyone feels respected and listened to, while at the same time accomplishing the difficult (and honestly, thrilling) work ahead. i'll sleep after the building committee finishes its work.

and of course there are the other things: sermon preparation, coordinating a churchwide study, managing the everyday work of the church, etc. i suppose i will sleep someday. then again, isn't sleep really a missed opportunity? i've never been one to work 24/7-- it's a waste, and pointless. but think about it: if we get that much talked about 8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, isn't 1/3 of the day slept away? and therefore 1/3 of our lives is spent sleeping? i'll sleep when i figure that one out.

in the meantime, welcome to the world, linus hayes drenner. enjoy your ninth day outside of the womb. and most of all have a great 20 hours of sleep today. it dwindles away fast!

Comments

Anne Speights said…
Frank, this is too funny but all completely understood. Quite honestly, though, I love to sleep because I dream every night and the things the unconcious mind can come up with are pretty amazing. You'll eventually get your sleep back. As my mother has always said, this too shall pass. And as naive as she has always been, this one thing she has forever been correct on. I lost a child to trisomy 21 syndrome in 1988 and even though it took longer than hoped, it did gradually get better. I thank her for that. In the meantime, lock your office door and take a short snooze under your desk. See you Sunday, Anne Speights