Committed To The Cause
Sam Walton began his long road to success and riches with a small store in Newport, Arkansas. Not long after the store became profitable, the owner of the space he was renting, forced him out, so the owner's son could have it. What might have been a setback for young Walton, he allowed to turn into motivation to continue his business. As his stores expanded, he remained committed to seeing them do well. His daughter recounts their family vacations, where they'd strap a canoe on top of the family station wagon and head off to a new destination. All along the way, they would visit Wal-Marts; a practice that she continues long after the family vacations ended.
Is your commitment to the cause, rubbing off on those around you, especially those closest to you? Walton's daughter went on to say that she never felt like her dad worked all the time. He made time for his kids and allowed them to tag along without making them feel like they were sacrificing. His work was a joy, and his family recognized that. The result was their commitment to the same cause. How does your family witness your commitment to the ministry? Is it a lifestyle or an occupation? Do you enjoy it so much that long after you're gone your kids will continue loving people in Jesus' name?
Finding a balance with your family and ministry is never easy, but half the battle is your commitment and the attitude that accompanies it. We all have to create boundaries and make time for our spouses and our children, but in the day in and day out tasks of the job, we have to maintain our commitment to the cause. Vince Lombardi once said that "Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." We are privileged to love teenagers and wanting to win them to Jesus lies at the heart of everything we do.
We raised our two amazing sons, Josh and Justin, while their dad and I were engaged in full-time ministry. They both now spend full-time leading busy ministries. Josh is a senior pastor, where he balances ministry life with his beautiful wife and two very active young boys. He wrote a book called, Help! I'm Raising Kids While Doing Ministry. In his book he shares stories and pragmatics of how we made time for family in the Mayo household when he and his brother were young.
Sam Walton began his long road to success and riches with a small store in Newport, Arkansas. Not long after the store became profitable, the owner of the space he was renting, forced him out, so the owner's son could have it. What might have been a setback for young Walton, he allowed to turn into motivation to continue his business. As his stores expanded, he remained committed to seeing them do well. His daughter recounts their family vacations, where they'd strap a canoe on top of the family station wagon and head off to a new destination. All along the way, they would visit Wal-Marts; a practice that she continues long after the family vacations ended.
Is your commitment to the cause, rubbing off on those around you, especially those closest to you? Walton's daughter went on to say that she never felt like her dad worked all the time. He made time for his kids and allowed them to tag along without making them feel like they were sacrificing. His work was a joy, and his family recognized that. The result was their commitment to the same cause. How does your family witness your commitment to the ministry? Is it a lifestyle or an occupation? Do you enjoy it so much that long after you're gone your kids will continue loving people in Jesus' name?
Finding a balance with your family and ministry is never easy, but half the battle is your commitment and the attitude that accompanies it. We all have to create boundaries and make time for our spouses and our children, but in the day in and day out tasks of the job, we have to maintain our commitment to the cause. Vince Lombardi once said that "Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." We are privileged to love teenagers and wanting to win them to Jesus lies at the heart of everything we do.
We raised our two amazing sons, Josh and Justin, while their dad and I were engaged in full-time ministry. They both now spend full-time leading busy ministries. Josh is a senior pastor, where he balances ministry life with his beautiful wife and two very active young boys. He wrote a book called, Help! I'm Raising Kids While Doing Ministry. In his book he shares stories and pragmatics of how we made time for family in the Mayo household when he and his brother were young.
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Exodus 33:7-11 tells us how Moses used to pitch the "Tent of Meeting" outside the camp. It was the place where the Lord would speak to him, face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.
Don't you long to create your own Tent of Meeting, a place where you can spend some face time with the Lord? I know I do, but I also know I'm going to have to fight for it on a daily basis. For I know, no one will create a Tent of Meeting for me, but me. And, no windows of opportunity will ever magically appear. My Tent of Meeting will only come through sheer determination, a refusal to let anything else encroach upon my time with Him. Without it, ministry will inevitably get messy.
I'm up for the challenge, the fight and the relentless pursuit! Are you? Draw near my friends! For He promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.
Lovingly,
It doesn't seem that long ago, that I experienced a life-changing "end of an era." Our oldest son, Josh, married his amazing Monica. You can well imagine all the "mother emotions" that lovingly surrounded that big day.
As I came to the studio to record this Youth Leader's Coach, I wanted to share some thoughts with you on important keys to raising children while also being involved in youth ministry. Whether you are single, married without children, or already "The Walton Family," please take time to listen to this resource. I share some principles that are really near to my heart that helped to make it possible to balance both raising two amazing sons and having a full-time youth ministry. If you don't need those thoughts now, you probably will in the future.
Lovingly excited to be a Mother-In-Love,
We all "know" that the most important ministry DOES NOT begin when we pull out of the driveway but when we pull into it. Unfortunately, all too often, the people who are the most precious to us...our family...gradually become the most common due to the demands of ministry.
When it comes to successfully building a ministry and raising a family at the same time, wise council can be found in Luke 14:28, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost...?" Learn in this Youth Leader's Coach some of the cost counting and strategic thinking I did and still do with my own family in order to help them feel as if they "always win."
My prayer is that when we stand before Jesus, He can celebrate the priorities that we not only preached about but chose to live.
Lovingly,
We're all pretty desperate about getting our problems solved, but we want the solution without it costing us something. I think that's why we have so many half-hearted Christians these days. Why? Because when something ceases to cost you something big, it ceases to mean something big.
In this month's Source, "How bad do you want it?," my ground zero question is, "Does it take desperate times for you to pursue God desperately?" My heart behind this message is to inspire some of us to make the personal choice to passionately come after God no matter what our feeling level.
Fanning the flame,
We live in a pretty non-committal society. Over and over again I hear staggering statistics that remind me that human nature is often not in the commitment business. That's why I decided to share this month's Youth Leader's Coach, "Why Do People Quit So Easily?" on this topic of commitment.
If you have been in full-time (or bi-vocational) ministry I'm almost certain that two things have happened: PEOPLE HAVE QUIT ON YOU and YOU HAVE WANTED TO QUIT. It happens to all of us. In this Youth Leader's Coach, I share some of the reasons why people quit so easily and 9 ways that we can all become better people of commitment and follow-through.
Lovingly,
