I had the opportunity to do some teaching/training this week. Life-giving.
During one of the sessions, we were talking about how to avoid burnout as it relates to ministry.
“Remember your calling….recharge…pace yourself…”
I paused to reflect on these for a moment.
Remember your calling.
In the hectic pace of life, sometimes we get so focused on “what” we are doing that we often forget the “why”. Take parenting, for example, yes, I spend my days teaching, correcting, disciplining, exposing, adventuring – and these days are long. But, why? Often the “what” leaves me spent at the end of the day, crawling into bed exhausted, reflecting on the things that went wrong, what didn’t get accomplished, and promising to be better tomorrow. Until tomorrow comes.
But, my focus is wrong. It’s not the “what” that is the end goal, they are simply the details, the tools. The end goal and what keeps me motivated is the “why”.
Why do I do the things that I do?
We want to see our children grow up with a primary focus of learning to love God and love people. These days, when noble character seems to be a rare commodity, and arbitrary expectation, we want them to know what God desires. Loving Him will mean making decisions that will not break His heart – not perfection – but a heart towards doing what is right, because it is right, regardless of what others think, say or do. We want them to know what it means to love people – how to treat all as people created by God, worthy of dignity, justice, care and concern.
Now, how they do this will be a matter of their personalities, their natural bents, gifts and talents. Our role is to pray over them, and help them navigate the waters of life as much as possible before they are launched on their own. To help cultivate the strengths and interests that we see. We want them to be equipped to make wise, godly decisions. We desire them to be caring, concerned individuals who see the truth and live for it, who fight for justice, no matter what. Simply put, again, we want them learn to love God and love people, because this informs everything else.
So, my daily “whats” though occasionally tedious or monotonous or overwhelming or exhausting or all of the above are but building blocks, tools used to get me to the “why”.
So, today, allow me to ask you a few questions.
What “whats” are weighing you down?
What trees are blocking your view of the forest?
Go back to your why.
May you gain inspiration to press on just one more moment, because that’s all that we are guaranteed that we have anyway, the moment we are in.
Thank you for sharing this! It’s a great reminder that I need to spend some time reflecting on my “whys.” I tend to remember my career why, but that doesn’t always extend to every area of my life. We just started planning a wedding, and I can already see how the whats — locking in a venue, finding a photographer who is available, contacting the pastor on vacation — can cloud the why. More for me than him, I’m sure 😉 The why — we love each other and want to start a life together — makes everything else seem arbitrary.
Margaret, oh my, yes! Wedding planning brings out the…um…best in people. We finally had to land on as long as we were present and with a pastor, everything would be fine. I loved our wedding, but the planning..mercy. Try to enjoy the process, slow down enough to freeze frame the memorable moments – funny, sweet, thoughtful, moments of God’s provision, even the arguments can be funny(later, years later). Yes. Remember the why, and as much as possible, enjoy the whats that will get you there. Congratulations!