Friends, I will be offline until January 23 for a writing retreat. I’m bringing my computer, but the place where I am going doesn’t have email access, which is one of the reasons I love it. So if you are of a praying mind, please pray that this week is both productive and restful. I am hoping to tear through two writing assignments, make a dent in the stack of books by my desk (which now actually reaches the desk), and get some sleep in the bargain.

It’s a strange feeling, stepping back from constant communication. It’s both thrilling and scary to be unreachable for a week. My inner social media guru whispers that I might miss something important.

My better self answers back that making a retreat is doing something important. And that I am not so important that the world can’t get along just fine without me for a while.