Stay Positive

Staying positive without feeling selfish is such a struggle when it comes to ministry and prolife work.

There is a time for everything under the sun: a time to work, a time to fight, a time to sow, a time to rise up, but there is also a time to rest and a time for refraining from fighting.  Everyone needs to regenerate, recreate and rejuvenate.

When I am so tired, I cannot find the words in general conversation, then I know it is time for me to rest, to back off from the overload of, mostly self imposed, deadlines and commitments.

Perhaps you are better at pacing yourself than I am.  Perhaps you are able to allow for extra time in your schedule and for periods of relaxation between events and experiences.  I have a tendency to think I will be able to space things out in such a way that times of rest and inactivity will be on my calendar, but other people see me as a person who gets things done.

So, my best intentions are usually thwarted by people on one team or another who don’t realize how many teams I play on.

Most people have a job or a business that they must work at and we have family and friends and relationships within the church or civic organization that we must work at to maintain, clubs we are members of and volunteer organizations. People from each of these may at any time require attention.

I am not suggesting that you or I must cut back or even that we should cut back on any of these things, but we do have to watch out for the fatigue that comes from overextending. No one is good to anyone if they are emotionally, physically or mentally exhausted.

The holidays are especially taxing for many people.  My hope is to be able to drink in the moments with family, enjoy nurturing relationships with others and bask in the quietness in my soul.

I hope you too can be at peace, such that your strength is renewed day by day.

There are still tragic decisions being made, people dying horrifying deaths and abuses of all kinds going on in the world.  Take the baton for a season at a time and ask God to have another take in at other times.

Staying home or visiting with family or friends or just resting is not selfish.  Taking care of yourself first, you will be able to take care of others.

There is a time for rest. Maybe your seasons for work and rest alternate with seasons or maybe they are long or short, but you are here for a purpose.

To fulfill that purpose, you must be intentional. Write rest, recreation and rejuvenation into your calendar.

Happy Holidays