I usually take a break over the Christmas season, “I’m extra busy,” I think to myself, “it’s hard to make time to write, and my readers, also, have little time for reading.”

On top of that, this year we bought a prefabricated home that was due to arrive some time in January which would mean a move with all the sorting and packing that entails. So I added on another four weeks to my break. The arrival of the new home, however, was delayed, and so were the utilities hookups so . . . add another week! Then two writing jobs popped up that I had to do right away, and I needed to prepare a banquet speech for the California tour using all new stories.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

Eventually, however, we did get caught up and we were in the new house, putting things away which had its own challenges with the new place being much smaller and having far fewer storage cupboards and closets than the old one.

Now here it is, a full ten weeks since I last posted on my INsights and OUTbursts blog.

So much for the OUTburst, here are the INsights.

• Once you stop doing something you have done regularly, the momentum is lost and it is much easier to stay stopped than to start again. In fact, it is downright hard to get started again, even when it is something you love to do!
• On the other hand, when you are in the midst of major changes, it is smart to know your physical and emotional limits, and to think long and hard before you stretch them too far.
• A major move, in the middle of a colder than usual winter, to a new house that is still without electricity, heat, and water, could negatively affect your marriage relationship.
• If you and your spouse let problems come between you, they will drive you apart; if you face them together, they will strengthen and solidify your relationship. I’m delighted to report our relationship is better than ever! (Yes, I checked this line with Jo and she agrees.)
• I  received insights into some numbers too.
  • 25 – The number of houses we have moved into and lived in for a year or more since we married.
  • 52 – The number of years Jo and I will have been married by March 31.
  • 104 – The number of years of combined married life plus 104 years of combined fulltime Christian ministry.
  • 110 – The approximate number of times we have moved, counting places we have lived in for at least two months. (I didn’t include six-week-long speaking tour trips.)
  • 123 – The number of combined years Jo and I have been followers of Jesus, our Saviour and Lord.
  • 151 – Jo and my combined age (by March 19).
  • ??? – The number of people who came to know Jesus as a result of our lives and ministry, or who were influenced to follow Him more closely, or who were inspired to new levels of obedience. Jo and I have no idea what this number could be, and I’m not sure that God is all that interested in it either.
  • ??? – So what is the most important number? The number of times Jo and I obeyed God’s voice, giving up our comfort, personal goals, and private longings in order to love and serve Him. Here’s hoping this will be the largest number!

The neat thing is that all you and I have to do is turn our lives over to Jesus’ Spirit to live through us. He does it all. His power has no limits. He never needs a break, not even when He is super busy, like over Christmas or while preparing a home in heaven for us.