Are You Tired Enough Yet?
After an overseas speaking engagement, I found myself on a 12-hour international flight. I'm a bit of a "tight wad" so I refuse to pay for "business class upgrades," even on long flights. But thanks to lots of mileage points, I received the upgrade without cost. So, I stretched out comfortably in my amazing assigned location, complete with 5 different settings to make sure my seat was as comfortable as possible. I pulled out my iPad and began work. After all, I'd been out of the country for several days. "I'm way behind," I thought to myself.
Fast forward to "hour 11" of my 12-hour flight. The plane cabin had been dark for several hours. The guy across the aisle from me made me inwardly laugh with his strange snoring pattern. But I kept working...determined to use the hours on the plane to "catch up."
Then a thought came pounding into my consciousness. Though I'm slow to call all fly thoughts, "from Jesus"...the clear and "loud" nature of these particular five words pointed pretty clearly to the Divine.
"Are you tired enough yet?" the internal voice asked me. And almost immediately, I knew what Jesus was trying to say. "Jeanne, what are you trying to prove? Are you exhausted enough now to finally think you have 'earned the right' to turn off your iPad and get some sleep?"
Years ago when I was visiting Israel, I accidentally got into the wrong elevator at our hotel. Though I didn't realize it, we had walked into the "Shabbat elevator." (In the Jewish tradition, "Shabbat" is the term for the Sabbath.) So in the Shabbat elevator, I found myself stopping at every floor! The Orthodox Jews in Israel take the Sabbath so seriously that you are not even allowed to "work by pushing buttons"!
Granted, this approach still seems a bit extreme to me. But that day on the elevator, just like during my lengthy plane trip, I think the Lord was trying to say to me, "Jeanne, stop living at such a break-neck pace! Stop trying to push all the buttons that control your life. Slow down...slow down...slow down."
Matthew 11:28 lovingly whispers this truth to me another way, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
How about you, my friend? Maybe reading this wasn't a coincidence for you today. Maybe the Lord is lovingly saying to you, like He did me, "Slow down...slow down...slow down."
After an overseas speaking engagement, I found myself on a 12-hour international flight. I'm a bit of a "tight wad" so I refuse to pay for "business class upgrades," even on long flights. But thanks to lots of mileage points, I received the upgrade without cost. So, I stretched out comfortably in my amazing assigned location, complete with 5 different settings to make sure my seat was as comfortable as possible. I pulled out my iPad and began work. After all, I'd been out of the country for several days. "I'm way behind," I thought to myself.
Fast forward to "hour 11" of my 12-hour flight. The plane cabin had been dark for several hours. The guy across the aisle from me made me inwardly laugh with his strange snoring pattern. But I kept working...determined to use the hours on the plane to "catch up."
Then a thought came pounding into my consciousness. Though I'm slow to call all fly thoughts, "from Jesus"...the clear and "loud" nature of these particular five words pointed pretty clearly to the Divine.
"Are you tired enough yet?" the internal voice asked me. And almost immediately, I knew what Jesus was trying to say. "Jeanne, what are you trying to prove? Are you exhausted enough now to finally think you have 'earned the right' to turn off your iPad and get some sleep?"
Years ago when I was visiting Israel, I accidentally got into the wrong elevator at our hotel. Though I didn't realize it, we had walked into the "Shabbat elevator." (In the Jewish tradition, "Shabbat" is the term for the Sabbath.) So in the Shabbat elevator, I found myself stopping at every floor! The Orthodox Jews in Israel take the Sabbath so seriously that you are not even allowed to "work by pushing buttons"!
Granted, this approach still seems a bit extreme to me. But that day on the elevator, just like during my lengthy plane trip, I think the Lord was trying to say to me, "Jeanne, stop living at such a break-neck pace! Stop trying to push all the buttons that control your life. Slow down...slow down...slow down."
Matthew 11:28 lovingly whispers this truth to me another way, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
How about you, my friend? Maybe reading this wasn't a coincidence for you today. Maybe the Lord is lovingly saying to you, like He did me, "Slow down...slow down...slow down."
Related Items
Jesus regularly went to the synagogue. David prayed seven times a day, and Daniel three. Zacchaeus offered sacrifices "as was his custom." What are your daily success rituals? Do you have any? Have you thought about them lately?
Honestly, we really don't decide our future, but decide our habits. Our habits, in turn, are what determine our future. The statement is so true, "The secret of our future can be found in our daily routines."
With that in mind, our daily routines are far too important not to intentionally spend some time focusing in on them. So grab your coffee, have a seat in your favorite chair and listen in as we get strategic in creating our daily success rituals.
Lovingly,
According to surveys done by the Fuller Institute of Church Growth, 70% of pastors have no one they consider to be a close friend and 50% have considered leaving the ministry in the last 3 months. Those are staggering statistics and I suspect that the numbers aren't too different for youth pastors and leaders.
This Youth Leader's Coach, "Coping With Stress and Burnout In Youth Ministry," is probably destined to be one of your favorites. I share candidly with you on stress and burnout. After 35 years in fulltime youth ministry, I've obviously experienced my share of both of these. So I wanted to share with you some of the pragmatic and medical things I have learned through the journey that can help you in these crucial areas.
Most of all, I wanted you to realize that when you feel pretty seriously stressed and even burned out, you are understood and not crazy! It's my honor to send this Youth Leader's Coach your way. Keep it filed somewhere so you can pull it out occasionally. It probably will be worth listening to more than once.
Lovingly Your Sis,
I suppose nothing challenges most of us in youth ministry more than trying to make enough time each day to get everything done that seems to demand our attention. Over the years in youth ministry, I've made it a habit to occasionally re-evaluate my own time management in light of my personal dreams and goals.
In this Youth Leader's Coach, I share with you the eight key questions I ask myself periodically to "keep myself on track." Peter Drucker says, "Efficiency is doing things right, but effectiveness is doing right things." So grab a cup of coffee, consider transcribing my eight questions, and then spend some time evaluating your time management in light of these thoughts. I promise the results will be both challenging and rewarding.
Yours for being EFFECTIVE in Youth Ministry,
Over and over again I have leaders ask me, "How do I stay spiritually fresh while doing youth ministry?" Truth of the matter is that ministry will always demand our energy, but it is our responsibility to fight to keep ourselves refreshed. That's much easier said than done, which is why this resource is so vital for all of us.
In this month's Youth Leader's Coach, "Fighting For Your Own Spiritual Freshness While Doing Youth Ministry," I give you ten ideas that will be helpful to you in revitalizing your spiritual walk.
Lovingly,
Have you ever hit periods when you were unmotivated to do youth ministry? Where you were painfully "blah" in other areas of your life? I used to think that if I just took care of my "spiritual person," I was going to be okay. But the truth is, doing ministry for the long haul (more than 3 months) is more complicated than just taking care of your spiritual self. What I wish someone had told me earlier is what I've learned through the years. There are "Five Ministry Tanks" that we need to keep paying attention to in order to give us "fuel" to do ministry for the long haul. If not, we run the risk of showing up to heaven with an enlarged ministry, but a shrunken heart.
That's what this Youth Leader's Coach, "Dealing With The Ministry Blahs," is all about. In it I share some of the risks associated with ministry "blahs" or "running on an empty tank." And then look at all five ministry tanks...SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL and RELATIONAL and some of the ways that that I have been successful in keeping them filled through my ministry run.
Lovingly,
