On the outskirts of Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Mountains, sits the pristine town of Big Bear. It is now known as the location where a murderer was hold up in a cabin in recent weeks.
Big Bear has a very special place in my heart. Throughout much of the 1990s and into the 2000s, when are kids were young and we were missionaries in Europe, our family would venture to Big Bear just about every summer. Susy's aunt and uncle had built a rustic A-frame cabin and they graciously allowed us to use it for a few weeks to a month in the summer.
One summer, July 1998 to be exact, we went to Big Bear and I was FRIED! I had hit a major wall in ministry, I was burned out.
I had been Europe Director for Christian Associates for 3 years. The ministry was growing rapidly, with new projects springing up around Europe. New staff were coming on board.
And I was spiritually, emotionally, and physically wiped out! I got a hernia in June of that year, which was the "straw that broke the camel's back."
I retreated to Big Bear for a more extended stay. I collapsed really.
- I slept in every day.
- I went to the local "greasy spoon" in the small town and talked about nothing with people I did not know.
- We visited a local church - Calvary Chapel - and sat in the back row and stared into space.
- I brought Steven fishing, we rented a boat and went on the lake, we barbecued a lot, I read books to the kids at night.
Somewhere in that month God began to point some things out to me. Painful realities of my life. I started to understand that my life was not sustainable at the pace I had been living.
Toward the end of our time in Big Bear I took out a pad and paper and wrote on the top, "Big Bear Principles." There were 5 that I wrote down, and I added a 6th in the summer of 2000 when I was in Big Bear again.
Herewith are my Big Bear Principles, which I still try to hold to and accept as best as I can.
Principle 1: There is no moderation in slowing down. God requires nothing less than radical surgery.
Principle 2: When I work I work hard and when I play I play hard.
Principle 3: I must maximize being with people I love to be with, I must minimize being with people who drain me.
Principle 4: Mentoring is in the eye of the beholder. I must creatively cultivate new mentors all the time.
Principle 5: Retreat is a prerequisite for the next attack.
Principle 6: I retreat in order to reassess my calling and to cultivate the virtues that make that calling sure and "complete."
Big Bear has a very special place in my heart. Throughout much of the 1990s and into the 2000s, when are kids were young and we were missionaries in Europe, our family would venture to Big Bear just about every summer. Susy's aunt and uncle had built a rustic A-frame cabin and they graciously allowed us to use it for a few weeks to a month in the summer.
I had been Europe Director for Christian Associates for 3 years. The ministry was growing rapidly, with new projects springing up around Europe. New staff were coming on board.
And I was spiritually, emotionally, and physically wiped out! I got a hernia in June of that year, which was the "straw that broke the camel's back."
I retreated to Big Bear for a more extended stay. I collapsed really.
- I slept in every day.
- I went to the local "greasy spoon" in the small town and talked about nothing with people I did not know.
- We visited a local church - Calvary Chapel - and sat in the back row and stared into space.
- I brought Steven fishing, we rented a boat and went on the lake, we barbecued a lot, I read books to the kids at night.
Somewhere in that month God began to point some things out to me. Painful realities of my life. I started to understand that my life was not sustainable at the pace I had been living.
Toward the end of our time in Big Bear I took out a pad and paper and wrote on the top, "Big Bear Principles." There were 5 that I wrote down, and I added a 6th in the summer of 2000 when I was in Big Bear again.
Herewith are my Big Bear Principles, which I still try to hold to and accept as best as I can.
Principle 1: There is no moderation in slowing down. God requires nothing less than radical surgery.
Principle 2: When I work I work hard and when I play I play hard.
Principle 3: I must maximize being with people I love to be with, I must minimize being with people who drain me.
Principle 4: Mentoring is in the eye of the beholder. I must creatively cultivate new mentors all the time.
Principle 5: Retreat is a prerequisite for the next attack.
Principle 6: I retreat in order to reassess my calling and to cultivate the virtues that make that calling sure and "complete."
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