Matthew 11:28-30 Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
I'm learning how easy it is for a minister to get out of balance in life and devote way to much time to "work." Its amazing how much fun it can be when you are doing exactly what God has for you! Nothing is "heavy or ill-fitting" and you "learn to live freely and lightly" so you just keep on doing what you love. I'm trying to start creating a balanced life now before I even enter into the "real world" so that hopefully I won't get too sucked into my job when I first start. A lot of my thought about this has been spurred on by Making Room for Life by Randy Frazee. It talks all about "trading chaotic lifestyles for connected relationships." What I need out of life is a small number of deep relationships and I really want to find a church community where I can live that out. As easy as it would be I don't want to just get caught up in the hurried, categorized American lifestyle, I want to live differently even though it will take some work. the book presents the hebrew model of living which devotes 12 hours a day to work beginning at 6am, time for relationships from 6pm-10pm and time for sleep from 10pm-6am. I could really benefit from having those 4 hours at night durring the school year to just spend with friends/family.
The second book I've read so far this summer is The Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley. I kind of felt like it was a summary of Hybles and Maxwell condensed down to 135 pages. But, it was still pretty good. I was reminded of the importance of Competence, Courage, Clarity, Coaching and Character. I have definitely learned that I go farther when others are involved in my life, I hope I can find a good "coach" when I get started in a ministry.
I think my third book is going to be The Seven Checkpoints by Andy Stanly, its a little longer I don't know if I'll be able to finish it in a week, but I'll try. I've also started Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. I pretty much love it. I really like her writing style! Its a great book to slip into to escape the world for a few minutes of tranquility.
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