Hello
Emmanuel,
It’s
much easier to see God working around you when you have good balance.
Kim
and I are back from our cruise. You know
what that means, right? Yep… time to
lose weight. If there was ever a time to
preach on gluttony as one of the 7 deadly sins, it is on a cruise ship. I could go into detail (like describing the omelet
bar, stir fry bar, burrito bar, pasta bar and the bar bar). Let’s just say at no point during the 7 days
(not to be confused with the 7 deadly sins) that I was never really truly
hungry.
So
it is time for my daily regimen of the get-back-in-relative-shape routines. This involves walking a mile or biking 10
miles; a minimal amount of push-ups; and not eating after supper. As much as it irritates my wife, it is an
automatic loss of 10 pounds. It isn’t
difficult. It just takes a small amount
of self-discipline…. Which brings me to the topic for this week’s MMP.
Do
you have balance in your life? It’s much
easier to see God working around you when you have good balance.
I
find that when I have self-discipline, it brings balance to my life. In a typical person’s life there is work,
play, family time and self-care (yes, this is an over simplification, but just
go with it, okay?). When I have no
self-discipline, I find that I work more than I should or I play more than I
should or I don’t take care of myself like I should. My life gets out of balance and that can
cause me to get grumpy (much to the demise of those who live with me).
For
example, those who work too much sacrifice other aspects of life. It is no different for clergy. In fact, the West Ohio Conference tells us
annually how clergy are at or on the bottom of the list of professionals in
terms of self-care because clergy tend to spend too much time caring for others
(or they go on too many cruises). As a
result, the average life-expectancy among professions for clergy is 2nd
worst to that of a firefighter.
Weird? I thought so too.
But
God wants you to live well. God wants
you to be balanced. He has blessed you
with more than a few aspects of life. However,
each aspect leans on other aspects to create a balance. Balance opens a bigger window where you can
look out and see God working around you.
Are you balanced?
If
not, can you bring yourself to get in balance?
No one else can do it for you. It
might take some self-discipline.
Consider how it is with your relationships. That will sometimes tell you if you are out
of balance. Are your kids hungry for
more of your attention? Maybe it is time
for family game night. Is your job
performance suffering? Maybe it is time
to focus more on your work. Are you
unhealthy or feel bad about yourself? Maybe
it is time for better self-care.
As
for me? It’s time to go exercise. I’m in the worst shape of my life… quite
literally. I hope you find balance in
your life. It’s much easier to see God
working around you when you have good balance.
God
is Good,
Pastor
Joe
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