“Get plenty of sleep” the book said. “You can’t minister appropriately if you don’t get enough rest.” The professor said “Try to get one day a week where you sleep as long as your body wants to.” For me, that was today. Is was supposed to be today. It’s Saturday. I didn’t set an alarm. My body woke up around 5am, as I’ve trained it to do; that’s around my usual wake-up time. I went to the bathroom, but then proceeded to go back to bed. I thought perhaps I’d get another couple hours of sacktime in. I fell back to sleep, but not for long. Nothing wakes one up faster than the sound of a 90lb labrador retriever chortling in one’s bed. My wife and I both lept up. She pushed Deuteronomy (yes, my dog is named after an OT book by way of TS Eliot) out of the bed. I grabed a box that had been filled with Christmas socks. Deut hacked and wheezed, and I stood ready to catch a belly full of nasty, but it never appeared. But now, fully awake, knowing getting more sleep wasn’t going to be happening, I figured I’d start my day. Deut and I took our walk. He ate his breakfast. I read from my Bible, and decided to start the online journal for my Spiritual Formation and Transformation class. Here’s entry #1.