One of last year's most significant moments for me occurred during a personal retreat I took at the end of a busy summer. The summer had begun with sad and shocking news: my supervising pastor suddenly resigned due to a moral failure. We were still feeling the shock waves from this event two weeks later when our third child was born.

One major low, one major high. One completely unexpected, the other totally expected. We were processing a wide range of emotions following these huge transitions.

In late July, my wife and our children, with the help of my wife's sisters, flew from our ministry field in the Pacific Northwest back to the East coast to visit family. I would join them in a few days. My plan had been to stay and finish up some work. As I began to get honest with myself, I wondered how much work I could get done, given the level of physical and emotional exhaustion I was feeling. I decided instead to approach my senior pastor and ask for a few personal days. Graciously, he agreed. ...