31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
Mark 6:31 (NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash, minister, educator and father of 2
All my kids came over for a supper of take-out Chinese food last night. We all work in the field of education — except for Seth; he’s a beginning mechanic at the Ford dealership. As ever, we had a wonderful time with the food, fellowship, and foolishness, but I noticed Spencer was not his usual relaxed, easy-going self. When I asked Susan about it later, she replied, “He’s fine. It’s just Nine Weeks Test Week. Spencer and the 7th graders are all overdue for Spring Break.”
And, in a flash, I realized she was exactly right. I’m writing this on my lunch hour on the last day of school before Spring Break, and everybody is getting more exhausted and irritable by the minute. If “The Eagles” wrote a song about the week of school before Spring Break, it would go like this:
Some teacher’s gonna hurt someone
Before the week is through;
Some kid is gonna come undone
There’s nothing we can do.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love being an educator, and my fellow schoolteachers are some of the most dedicated and loving individuals on the planet. And the kids I work with are great — they help make my life rewarding, cheerful, and worthwhile.
But from time to time, all students and teachers need to take a break. That’s why schools have a lot of holidays and vacations. Without the times of rest and recreation, the educational process would become impossible. That’s why you always hear about the legislators proposing a year-round-school-year, but nobody ever adopts it!
The Bible teaches that rest and relaxation are holy and necessary. A little old lady from my church once told me, “Brother John, I try to be like Jesus. When the Lord lived among us, He ate and He rested. So, I try to do those things, too, so I can be like Him.”
So, if you get a Spring Break, have a great one. And if you don’t get a Spring Break, try to find a way to make one of your very own. We always do well when we strive to be like the Lord Jesus — in all His ways.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 28 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days has a desk-job at a public school, and until recently taught Latin on closed-circuit-television.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where the Preacher is hoping to sit in the sunshine and breathe the cool Spring air this week.) Their kids include Spencer (age 22), his wife Madeline (age 22), and Seth (age 19).
