So What's Your Saturday Night Like?

I have had very few "normal" Saturday nights in my adulthood. Actually, I'm not sure what normal is. You see, Sundays are the day. Sundays are the day it is my time to deliver. And it comes every 7 days as they say.

In 1997 I came to LifeWay after pastoring for 12 years. I did not preach for on any regular basis for about 18 months as I settled into my new role and as my family settled in Nashville. But Saturdays just didn't seem "normal" . I had become so accustomed to preaching every Sunday, I got anxious because I wasn't preaching. Weird, I know. But it's just the way it was.

Leigh Ann and I talked about it. She said I wasn't really a good listener on Sundays anyway, so I might as well preach :-). We were certain God wanted me to serve full time at LifeWay at the time, so I began to investigate interim preaching. From late 1998 through late 2005 I missed preaching only a few Sundays while on vacation. It was back to "normal"

I would imagine those of you that are small group leaders or Sunday School teachers you experience something similar. Until about noon on Saturdays my day is probably much like anyone else's (I guess). I usually try to get a workout in these days. But about noon, something strange happens. Leigh Ann says I almost become someone else. I don't really know what it looks like on the outside, but I do get to this place internally where I can't think of anything else other than the message for the next morning. It gets more intense with each passing hour. Until by early evening, I am pretty much zoned out to the rest of the world.

This is "normal" for me. I can't remember a time when I was not in final stages of preparation, or wishing I was in the final stages of preparation on Saturdays. Even when I am away on vacation, Saturdays are still a hard time to relax. I guess my body clock is set for life.

I wonder what normal people do on Saturday nights? Do normal people relax on Saturday nights?

I know I wouldn't have mine any other way. I've tried and it just didn't work well for me.

Oh yeah, if I attend a party or some other function on a Saturday night and you are there, please forgive me if I seem distant. It's because I am experiencing the only "normal" I know.