;)
Anybody Else Feel This Way?
Posted by Geoff Baggett in Church & Missions
Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I am blessed to serve alongside so many wonderful people. I love my work, my calling, my ministry, my church, and my family in the Lord. I also love to take a nap on Sunday afternoon. Can I get a witness?!!!
But Sundays can also be pretty tough. I’m on my feet non-stop from 6:00 until 1:00. I play bass in two worship sets, preach two sermons, and handle all sorts of crises before and in between worship celebrations … all with a ridiculously large smile on my face. Every other Sunday my family hosts one of our LIFE Group small groups in our home. On most LIFE Group Sundays a nap is totally out of the question. Today was one of those days.
I ran across this picture some time ago ago. But it really struck a cord with me tonight. I’m beat. I feel like I’ve been run over and left “in the road.” This picture is, pretty much, a metaphor of how I feel right now, at this exact moment in time.
So, without a doubt, tomorrow will be a “light” day for me. I need a little down time.
Any other suggestions? How do you recover from a busy Sunday full of ministry, challenges, and people?
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
Isaiah 40:31.
Bro. Geoff,
Just keep on thanking and praising His name . That is Isaih 40:31 !
Blessings.
Ron.
As the country song says, “sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug!” (Sorry, Bob’s Isaiah 40 quote is much more spiritual, but I’m beat, too, so this is what you get!)
Today you are the bug. But delight yourself in the Lord today, in his word, his creation and his gifts to you. And delight in the fruit of ministry – lives changed, joyful worship, new Christ-followers saved, families restored, hope renewed. And Delight in your wife and daughters and let them refresh your spirit.
I usually spend part of Monday or Tuesday reading at our local Barnes & Nobles bookstore, just soaking in the quiet or praise music on my Ipod and reading scripture or other good, encouraging books. I’d recommend you add some of this to your schedule in the early part of your week.
What should a preacher do on Monday after an exhausting, draining day on Sunday?
1. Go fishing.
2. Sit around feeling sorry for yourself and not caring if the whole world goes to Hell – knowing that tomorrow will be better and you’ll feel a little more spiritual.
3. Think about how your church would never understand in a hundred years the stress and pressure you endure.
4. Cry out to God for mercy.
5. Work in your garden, mow your yard.
6. Look through the want ads in the newspaper.
7. Tell God you could have entered another profession and gotten rich and famous.
8. Tell your wife that you and she are the only ones in your church that have any spiritual sensitivity – and sometimes you worry about her.
9. Check your Guidestone retirement and see how soon you can retire.
10. Call a preacher friend and run down your church folks to him for a while.
11. Listen to your preacher friend tell you how bad things are at his church.
12. Do something you enjoy that has nothing to do with your ministry.
13. Eat your fruits & vegetables, get plenty of rest and exercise.
14. Do something with your wife and kids.
15. Know that you are only human and after the stress of Sunday there would probably be something wrong if you didn’t feel wiped out.
16. Realize that this is why you get paid the big bucks.
17. Laugh at yourself.
18. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
19. Did I mention go fishing?
Then, in a day or two, start loving your church again, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Knowing that they are some of the finest folks in the world and probably deserve a better pastor.
Even on a Monday, in the dark recesses of my mind, I can sometimes realize that God has given me the greatest job in the world. And that I shouldn’t step down to be a king.
David R. Brumbelow
Monday, April 28, AD 2008
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. You need a day of rest each week, but for people like you, Sunday isn’t it. Pick some other day of the week (Monday sounds good) to be your day of rest, and stick to it.
I take Mondays as my off day. I rarely take a nap on Sundays because it wears me out and I’m groggy going into Sunday nights service. But I “resign” from the ministry after Sunday nights service and I pick it back up again on Tuesday morning. Monday I am lazy, I play with my kids, I read, I don’t worry a thing about church.
Thanks for the comments, folks.
I usually take a different approach. I take a pretty random “day off” each week. But I tend not to goof off. Instead, I have a friend who owns a construction business. I usually spend my “day off” working for him. I get to hammer things, use power tools, etc … It’s great fun, an awesome stress reliever, and I make a little extra cash to boot.
I know that some might wince at the idea of doing manual labor on a “day off,” but it’s just right for me. My daddy was a carpenter, and he taught me to do all of those things. it gives me a lot of satisfaction to work with my hands and, at the same time, honor my dad (who is now with the Lord) in that labor.
But Saturday is for fishin’!!!!