Sometimes you have to go back for seconds.

When you have a small French press, it's not at all inappropriate to drink two rounds of coffee in one day instead of just one, right? That doesn't make me an addict, right?

It's been a quiet Monday in the office, and so I have taken advantage of the quiet to work through various backward and forward looking tasks that come with the transition into the new year:

• Reading through the annual report of the congregation as our ministry leaders reflect on 2011 and set goals for 2012.
• Gearing up for tomorrow night's budget meeting where we will finish a final draft of the 2012 budget to be voted on this upcoming Sunday.
• Writing newsletter articles about new and upcoming 2012 events.
• Sending off paperwork to the synod to report and reflect upon 2011.
• Revisiting tasks and projects from late December that took a back seat to Christmas and New Year's.
• Finally clearing my brain out of holiday mode and settling back into ordinary time.

And even though I am, by nature, a person of reflection, who is generally comfortable with sitting and thinking and reviewing...today, it has taken that second pot of coffee to keep me going!