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Let’s face it, you are busy and I’m busy. It’s the end of the week and you are wondering, “How did that happen?” You check your schedule to see that it was filled with meetings, emails, meetings and more emails. You don’t remember their content or context of any of them all you feel is the emotional aftermath that they brought. You worked hard on prepping for a night of ministry, but everything felt rushed and next thing you know, it’s done.
Time is flying by and you don’t know if it was fun, you just know you are tired. Life has reached an all new busyness and you hear Ferris Bueller saying “If you don’t stop to look around once and a while, you might miss it.” Guess what? You missed it.
As youth ministers many of us fly through the week either totally consumed with the busyness that we really miss out on some of the precious moments that ministry can bring. Yes, we do hit seasons of chaos and there are times when we just have to put our heads down to weather the storm, but that shouldn’t discourage us from embracing moments when we:
Learn From Others: You have meetings throughout the week that force you to see staff members, ministers and teens; however, sometimes we just need to schedule hangout time. Time when there is no agenda, except to grow and know that person. These are the times when we can let others pour into us which can be a refreshing change to how often we pour into others.
Observe Life: When was the last time you people watched? I’m not talking about stalking, I’m talking about sitting at a coffee shop or going out to lunch on your own and just observed life. As ministers sometimes all we need to do is go to a game, watch a kid play. Sometimes it’s about walking around the mall and seeing what the community is into. If we can’t gauge the lives of the people we are serving, then it just becomes a guessing game.
Sit With God: We preach His word and we serve His people; but, the times we really hang out with Him just one on one is not really happening. When we work in a church it’s tempting to start playing church; however, when we play church we lose site that we are also disciples who need to grow.
If life is too busy and you are thinking, “Chris, that sounds nice, but I really don’t have the time.” I would encourage you to pencil it into your schedule. Let it become a priority and until it becomes natural revist the question, “How busy am I?”
Share your thoughts. What else can a busy life miss in ministry?