Managing Your Time: A Response

I believe it starts with the pastor, John. Our pastor has a firm policy of 'we never miss something our kids are in' - even if it's on a regularly scheduled church time. He truly embraces 'cheat the church' - but in a really healthy way. We work hard, but we very carefully schedule our church calendar. It values our family time - but also values the families of our church.

I wonder...

How could the church encourage ministers to truly value their families? What might this look like? How might we model it?

Great conversation-- I think your statement about ministers often failing when it comes to time spent with family is one that needs to be spoken about more often and I appreciate your openness in addressing it. As a husband and father of three it is a topic that the Lord has really been dealing with me about as of late. You are right...too many ministers are failing in this area and in the end the ministry that we are called to serve suffers as a result. Burn-out, discouragement, high divorce rate, infidelity, PK trouble, etc. is the result of not properly investing and protecting the time we have with our families. The season we have with our children at home is all too short and must be protected from imbalance within our ministry. I too, am very thankful for a family that is committed to serving others along side of me and it is up to me to make sure proper balance is maintained. 1 Timothy 3:4-5

John - I appreciated you saving family for the end - kind of like saving the 'best for last.' It's the point that needs to be hardest hit - so I appreciated its placement.

And speaking as a dad, I completely get your sentiment about there never being enough time. I'm hard on myself. I strive to always make my family the first and most important ministry I have. There are days we'll all stay up late - and even then, when we retire for the evening, I just crave a few more minutes. It never feels like enough - and I never want it to be enough.

Thank you for your honesty and example. Your priorities are clear - and I appreciate them.

A great reminder to a lot of things here John. Time is a precious commodity for sure. It is the one thing we have day in day out till there is no more days! (poetic I know)

I hate hearing from people "I just don't have time" or "I'm to busy" what that really equates to is 'this' thing or person is not worth the commodity I have which is Time, there for I choose this over it. That is not always a bad thing. My wife is the most important 'time devourer' out there. She gets to make the calls (outside of God's leading of course). As Jesus said 'where you put your heart there is your treasure'. Our hearts are pretty much tied to our time as well. So it could be safe to say where you put your time/self there is your treasure!

Great reminder to make the most of what is constant!

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Kids Pastor-- My thoughts about relationships with my family are just that...the priority and importance of those relationships as primary. I think that anyone that is engaged in ministry that has a family can relate to the idea that ministry can be challenging to those relationships. I've gotten phone calls in the middle of the night asking my wife and I to visit the home of a student to break up a fight because the parent was drunk. Other times, we've been sitting down for dinner, and the phone rings...a student has been injured and is being taken to the emergency room. Not to mention weeks at camp or on a mission trip. Frankly, I'm thankful for a family that understands the demands of ministry to people.

A friend was telling me just today about a minister that, at 5pm, when office hours are over, shuts his phone off and heads home. That is managing time over relationship, and that's not the example that we should be following. When Jesus' disciples returned from their mission experience in Luke 9, Jesus sought to be in relationship with them to hear about their experience. But...the people kept "getting in the way." So, Jesus simply ministered. The example of the Master, I think, is the better of the two.

Jason-- In short, our "pre-brief" is designed to get our kids ready for service. At times, we've done a pre-trip serving opportunity (soup kitchen, retreat) with the design to put our students in positions where they will be challenged. On the way to our departure point, we'll give them their devotional book for the week which will include space for them to write about what they hope God accomplishes through them, to dialogue about their hopes, dreams and fears of the trip, as well as an outlet to talk about what needs to "stay behind" so that they can focus on hearing God and serving others. It includes scripture meditation and prayer time--both individually and in groups--so that they can just be still in God's presence. As far as our debrief, we give them opportunity to review their hopes and dreams of the trip and to see how God used them. For an out of the country trip specifically, we want to provide time to decompress, process and adjust to life back home. To take a kid to a mall, when 24 hours before they had been in a garbage dump, is a powerful moment as they come face-to-face with their reality. We've learned that kids and adults need to talk about their experiences so they can grow from them.

If you like, you can contact me and I'd be happy to share what we've done for our Mexico trips.

Let's keep the conversation going!

Family should certainly not follow the caption "Finally" and if "there is never, ever enough time in the day, week or month for this one" then one should seriously exam their biblical priorities in life. (God, Family, & ministry)

I'm curious what the pre-brief and debrief days look like.