Our vocation is hard sometimes. I love what I do and I love doing it. I love getting up every day. I love going to work every day and I love almost every part of my work. Problem – there are times I love my work so much my life ends up out of balance and I spend too much time on my work.
I believe ministry is a vocation of “seasons.” There are seasons of engagement and seasons of withdrawal. For example, the fall is a season of engagement. We have a ton going on as we ramp up for the fall programming season. With retreats, weekly programs, and volunteer recruitment and training going on, we can work a great deal for these next six weeks. However, there are also seasons of withdrawal. For me, April and May are times that are a lot slower than other parts of my year. These months give time to think, time to plan, time to relax a bit from the fast pace of ministry life. Additionally, I think there are seasons of our lives that dictate our engagement in ministry. I’m 42 with three teenagers and a fifth grader. I spend very little time at football games, school plays, and other things that my kids are not involved with. Before I had a youth group in my own home, I spent a great deal of time at these events. I assume when my kids are out of the house (if I’m still alive and kicking) I’ll resume more of these contact, but right now, it’s not realistic for me.
So, what do you do to keep a healthy life while in a vocation like ministry? When you love what you do and the list of things to do never gets shorter, what do you do? Do you work harder, longer, and more often?
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