Breathe

Thanks to your efforts, God’s grace, and our community, 2022 was a blessed year in many ways. We continue to grow one person at a time, and while we continue to say goodbye to too many people, we are still able to do so in a loving and supportive way. We have made improvements on the A/V front, in some of our communications, in some of our committees, and we have grown our small group ministry and outreach to almost surpass where we were before the pandemic. We have areas, particularly in children’s ministry, which are lagging behind, but there is movement to grow this ministry in the upcoming year. And one of the things that excites me the most is our commitment to make engaging with and serving our local community our top priority through our Council.

One thing I discovered years ago in ministry, and something I have to keep rediscovering, is that there will always be more to do. Once we reach one level of mastery, another one opens up. Once we meet one need and do it well, another need that is more complex shows up. Once we reach a number of people, we discover more hiding behind them. The job will never be finished or complete. Therefore, take a breath when you need to. Take a break when you need it. Walk out the cramps, stretch, and get some rest. Take a sabbath.

In teaching karate for 10 years now (after being a student for nearly 10 years), I am frequently reminded that I need to tell my students to breathe. When you are deeply concentrating on making the right moves in the right sequence, or when you are throwing, being thrown, or engaging in a mock fight, it’s as if the brain turns off the breathing mechanism in order to focus on the body. The problem is, without breathing, we’ll faint. I occasionally have to remind myself to breathe when I lift weights at the gym. It is no different for us when we are blessing, loving, serving, and giving of ourselves for others – we sometimes forget to breathe.

So, even as we make plans for what we’re going to do in this upcoming year, may we include chances to breathe in those plans. That is, may we build in times to refresh ourselves, to tend to our needs, to take our own Sabbath, to renew our spirits. We don’t have to schedule them necessarily, but if you live by a calendar, I would encourage at least one day a week, or at least 3 days a month, or a week plus every few months, where you can do something that renews you. Of course, worship can be part of the plan, but so can social events, or solo events, or recreation, or again, whatever renews your spirit. For my part, as I am sitting down this week to make worship plans for the next several months, I will finally, after 26 years, take the wisdom I have gained and put it into practice. I have noticed for years that I do a better job preaching after I’ve taken a break. As much as I enjoy and thrive on preaching, somewhere around 6 weeks in a row often means I am starting to run on fumes, particularly when there have been weddings or funerals in the mix. So, as I plan my preaching schedule, I will be working more breaks into my schedule. Especially as we have so many certified lay servants and other qualified preachers, it will also help to further the development of those who feel called to preach. And by and large, I will be in worship those Sundays, except when I’m with scouts or on family trips, so I can help them and renew myself.

I would encourage other ministry leaders to think about doing something similar themselves. You know when you frequently get tired, or you can tell when you start to feel run down. It may take some looking around and training to see who could handle your role, but it is not impossible. We have a budget line for training, after all! Use that budget line and see if you can develop one or two people who can take your role as needed. May 2023 be the year when we begin to breathe and renew ourselves for the important work ahead! Rested people are blessed people. Stressed people are messed people.