“This weekend is kick off weekend, one of my favorite of the whole year. All our kids and student programs are back in full swing, lots of fun stuff on the front plaza, all new music and a brand new message series called Breathing Room.
Breathing room is the gap between our current pace and our limits. Breathing room is just having space to…breathe. It means
- having money left over at the end of the month because you haven’t spent it all.
- getting somewhere you need to be with a little bit of extra time, to collect your thoughts.
- reaching to the end of the day and actually having enough emotional energy to talk with your spouse.
Breathing room is the gap or space between our current pace and our limits. We all have limits. You are a creature and God created you with limits.
- You only have so many hours in the day.
- You only have so much money.
- You have so much energy.
At times it is certainly good to stretch ourselves and push our limits, but if we live too long there, eventually we crash.
And all of us have seen:
-the guy who worked so much their marriage fell apart
-the couple who lived way beyond their means and spent themselves into deep debt
-the college student who had way too much fun and failed out
Life is better, people are better, we are better people with breathing room. Here’s why:
First,
when we have breathing room, we enjoy life more and set ourselves up for success. If you think back to the days and times or even seasons of life you enjoyed the most, they probably had plenty of breathing room. Maybe you were working hard and maybe you played hard, but you weren’t so busy or so stressed out that you didn’t have time to enjoy what you were doing.
With breathing room you enjoy what you’re doing more and you’ll be more successful at what you do…which is always more enjoyable.
Second,
when we have breathing room, relationships can flourish. Relationships require time. When we are constantly living at our limits we feel under pressure, pressure eats time. Lack of time kills relationships. When we have breathing room we can take time for relationships.
Third,
we are kinder and gentler with breathing room. When we have breathing room, we can take time to actually notice other people, and their needs and their feelings: hold the door open for someone, let somebody go ahead of you, smile.
Fourth,
we have greater freedom with breathing room.
How often do we say we can’t do something, something good, something you want to support, because your schedule, your budget, your weekend are at their limits. Living without breathing room enslaves us to what must be done, instead of what should be done, what could be done. Breathing room frees us.
Fifth,
and most importantly we position ourselves to be disciples when we have breathing room. Discipleship, becoming students and life long learners and followers of Jesus Christ, requires breathing room.
Life is better, we’re better people with breathing room.”
