They pay a price for your ministry, you know. Before things get crazy busy for you during Holy Week and Easter, this might be a great time for some preventive family wellness. It’s a bit like getting the oil changed before a long trip, or a good stretch before a… Read More
So busy doing the Lord’s work, forgot about the Lord. Lent is a busy season that can have that effect on church workers. It’s intended to be a forty day journey into the wilderness. By reflecting on our Lord’s Passion, and in particular on the guilt of sin that drove… Read More
Chicken? Egg? It’s the chicken. We know there’s a connection between healthy congregations and healthy church workers. Healthy leaders lead healthy congregations. Healthy congregations foster healthy leaders. Healthy leaders come first. I’m fortunate to come across many congregations that create an environment for ministry where ministers flourish. I’ve served at… Read More
God knows you need a wellness plan. I mean that in the purest sense. God knows you. He knows what you need. He wants you to spend some time getting to know yourself a bit better by reflecting on what you need to be at your very best, ready to… Read More
Don’t overdo it. We’ve helped people write wellness plans at our retreats for over 20 years. Most people, on the final days of the retreat, tend to overdo it. They try to plan to do way too much all at once. I try to say over and over, “Just this… Read More
Timing is everything. In the Luke 14 Parable of the Great Banquet, when the Master called, “Come, for everything is now ready!” the invited guests all had excuses. The call to ministry is sort of like that. God creates opportunities for mission. He calls his servants to respond. A church… Read More
Advice is cheap. And abundant. Everybody has an idea about what’s best for you. When God’s children respond to the Spirit’s urging to make healthy life choices, they turn to the Word of the Lord. Most advice we’re bombarded with is faulty at best and corrupt at worst. The way… Read More
Let’s get real. By wellness plan, I’m talking about how you will approach the daily and weekly disciplines of balanced self-care. By “realistic,” I mean two things. Your plan is not something you read in a book that you “should” do. It’s not imitating what someone else does. Realistic… Read More
It’s all connected. I’ve been reading Ezekiel. The dry bones get connected and there’s life. Paul wrote, “The body is made of many parts.” You’re the same way. Your physical condition affects your spirit and your vocational efforts. A broken relational life impacts your health, your emotions, and your life… Read More
Decay happens naturally Our natural state is atrophy. Last week we discussed how important it is to be intentional about safeguarding your spiritual, relational, physical and vocational health. When untended, wholeness in each of these aspects of life is jeopardized. But a wellness plan that… Read More
A Word from the Lord I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 2 Timothy 1:5 A Word of Encouragement What discipline would be of the greatest benefit to… Read More
A Word from the Lord For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 A Word of Encouragement Intentional self-care requires exercise of the Spirit’s gift of self-discipline. How is the Lord calling you to care… Read More
The Way to Wellness for the Non-Ordained in Church and School Ministries