---
title: "The Strains of Ministry: How to recover from the long days"
description: I just turned 30 and after eating plenty of sweets in celebration this weekend I’ve realized my body is telling my body, “You can’t handle a second (giant) piece of…
---

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# [The Strains of Ministry: How to recover from the long days](https://blog.marathonyouthministry.com/blog/the-strains-of-ministry-how-to-recover-from-the-long-days)

 Written by [Christopher Wesley](https://blog.marathonyouthministry.com/blog/author/christopher-wesley) | Nov 14, 2010 2:50:00 PM

 I just turned 30 and after eating plenty of sweets in celebration this weekend I’ve realized my body is telling my body, “You can’t handle a second (giant) piece of cake like you use to.”  In the past if I ate too much the day before I could go for a run the next day and let my metabolism do the rest…now it just sits in me like a brick that needs to be surgically removed.  Also I find myself lower on energy when I stay up until 10:30pm…10:30pm come on, the news hasn’t even come on then.

Now, I know I’m not getting much sympathy from my peers who are well over 30 and that’s okay.  But, I think we all know that there are those nights, weeks, and events where we need to recover not because we’re old, but because the emotional and physical strains of youth ministry can have a toll on our body.  So how do we recover?  
****

- ****Look at Your Diet**:  I’m serious, I know we’re not all professional athletes (maybe none of us are except in dodgeball) but what we eat affects how much energy we have to take on a long day of ministry or even that all nighter we some how convinced ourselves would be awesome.  Pizza, chick-fil-a, chips and soda will make you crash and burn like 5 year old on Halloween.  I know we have busy lives, most of us do eat home cooked meals, just don’t try to eat like the teenagers.**

Again, we aren’t athletes, we’re youth ministers but being able to handle a long career takes recovery and planning.  I know some of it sounds basic but sometimes we forget all the basic.  We need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of the students.  I know this isn’t something we often talk about but **what do you do to rest, relax and recover from the strains of ministry?**

[View full post](https://blog.marathonyouthministry.com/blog/the-strains-of-ministry-how-to-recover-from-the-long-days)

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