Over the past few weeks I’ve been blessed with reviewing articles and presenting them on our blog post. These articles have covered a verity of topics all related to stress, burnout, prevention of the fore mentioned, and the recuperation from it. At the same time, I very rarely write about myself, or mention how this affects me. So, here is a little about this blogger and my experience being the caretaker of Elijah’s Tree.
In October of 2015, Kelly and I left a ministry we love, and relationships we love. We did it in following God’s call to start Elijah’s Tree. Our mission is to give opportunity for Rest, Renewal, and Return to Calling for persons in ministry facing burnout, by providing retreat. Getting a ministry started is never easy and most often bi-vocational, as in this case. Between job and ministry, I only have about an hour of free time to myself, and in the past would spend it by myself thinking and planning the next few hours of the day.
That is until I started reading and writing these articles. I learned what I was doing isn’t healthy, and that I should make efforts to spend that one hour of free time with my family, and be conscious of being with them in the moment and not thinking of other stressful situations such as work. I began to divide my time; spending some of it with Kelly (my wife), some with Reagan (my daughter), some with both, and some by myself. Then there is always the family dog, Ringo.
What I have found is being mindfully present with them is a welcomed break from stressful conversations and long, hard days. Seeing Reagan carelessly spin around with her arms out, smelling flowers, and picking dewberries in a pasture allows me to have that same careless sense for that one hour, which in turn allows a clear and focused mind for when it is time to get back to work.
Another piece of advice I have gleaned is about sleep. Always get eight hours. Sometimes that is difficult, as Reagan is the age where she still likes to climb in bed with Mommy and Daddy. Then I can expect to be kicked about every 30 minutes, and hit about every 15. If you are a parent, I’m sure you can relate and are giving a little smile right now. Again, it is important to be mindfully present with the thought or idea of rest, as you are resting. When I find myself awaken by a surprising blow to the ribs, the next thoughts tend to be on the previous day. I have found that giving full body stretches, along with continuous deep breaths help. To stop my mind from drifting back to work I softly repeat, on exhales, the word rest. This has been shown in studies to be effective in as little as two minutes, and can be done behind a desk or other places.
I hope you have enjoyed insight to how I personally have used these tips, and would love for you to share your own. Please know we are now accepting nominations for people in ministry who are facing stress and burnout to be sent on retreat. If you would like to help financially support this ministry, please click on the donate tab. Thank you for taking the time to read and as always: To God be the Glory!