Taking the heat

There is a funny thing about working in Ministry; your social life is your work life.

I live and breathe my church. I love the people I work with and work for. Some of the families I work with are also my friends. The young adult small group I lead is a portion of my friends network.
Its really a fun thing until it gets tough.

The past couple of weeks I have taken some heat from a couple of parents. Some are justified and make good points, others make good points in a bad way, a few others make points that are misguided, and a few even still just take shots for no reason at all.

When these things come down the pipe; which they are bound to do because I work in ministry; I have to be prepared. I need to have people in my life who are outside the church and my ministry. I need to have people I can go to and hash things out with. Friends who will tell me I am wrong when I am wrong. But Friends who will back me up, or encourage me when I feel down.

Last night was great. I went to a friends birthday dinner and rock climb. We sat out on a rock face and ate some burgers and did a climb each. It was really fun to be with them. I got to decompress and be myself without having to worry about the things on my mind from the church.

Everyone needs that, you may not need many friends in life. But a few friends in different places that you can turn to, sure is a big help.

Vacation

Amy; my beautiful wife; and the Thing

Maui a wonderful island in the pacific. Sun, Beaches, coconut trees. It was beautiful.

My wife and I were fortunate to spend the last week in Maui, we stayed at her aunts house and got to borrow a '74 VW Thing. Seriously it was a cool car!
While we were in Maui, we got to surf, snorkel, walk around, eat delicious food, and rest and relax.

It was much needed to charge us up for the spring and summer. It refreshed us to get back into work and do our thing.

It also did something much more profound. It reminded me to guard my time off. I didn't think about work, or my coworkers. I didn't think about how my youth were doing. I didn't even think about my favorite sandwich shop.  I thought about my wife, the beautiful place I was in and God.

How refreshing it is to spend time without frustration, with some beautiful things God has provided. It reminded me that when I am super busy working with my head down, I forget to pop it up as often as I should to see things passing me by.

When I was driving the VW thing. I had a rock fly up and hit me in the sunglasses shattering them (which I had just bough by the way) I was so mad! I was not happy, it both hurt and wrecked my sunglasses. But I was reminded that my eyes were saved. So maybe the $20 sunglasses had been worth it.

When we are in the midst of our busy life schedules, we often forget to look around at what God is providing. We are forgetting that while we may be paying our dues, or sometimes something hits us in the head, we have huge blessings that we forget about. I know often when I am swamped I don't think about how awesome of a job I have, or how I get to work with awesome students, or how God is my boss and that's the coolest employer anyone can have.

So I am hoping that even though I am headed back to work, I remember to pop my head up. Because God has blessed me with an amazing life! I should pay closer attention.

To text or not to text

Yesterday I ended up in a text conversation with one of my students. This is one of my favorite parts of ministry. I love when a student chooses to engage with me by their choice. It helps me know that my work is valuable, it lets me see that God is working through me in the lives of my students.

So I was in a meeting when suddenly a student texts me, only problem was I forgot to turn off my ringer. So off goes my phone and its a student who wants to talk. I was fortunate he was okay waiting until after my meeting.

I text him back and forth, and then hit home. When I get home I haven't seen my wife in 3 hrs, I realize I have to end the conversation and visit with my wife.

Something I am quickly realizing is that I need to find balance in things. And part of that includes my texting habits. One problem with loving getting texts, is that it so easily interferes with our lives. We live in a society that rips into our personal lives whether we like it or not.

So now when I am coming home I finish my texting before I come in the door unless its really necessary to keep texting. While my students can contact me anytime; and I hope they do; my wife comes first.