Balance

Summer is here. And in my line of work that means the hours go up. Now, the excitement level, the ministry opportunities, and the intangible rewards also increase. However, going into this time of year also means that once again (I do this periodically) I wonder about balance. Do I work the 80 hour weeks and know I'm doing ministry? Hopefully being a part of people's lives being changed and transformed by God's love and grace. That is kind of what I've always done. It may well be why not only am I still single at 37 but I've never even been in a dating relationship. It's kind of hard to have a social life when you work like I have worked. So it begs the question of balance. What is the balance between living and working? Especially when working is not just a paycheck to live but ministry that touches peoples lives regularly.

I'm also guessing that balance promotes a healthier person and perspective, that it would allow me to not only have a social life but it would help me learn to "live" not just do good work, and it would help prevent burnout thus extending my opportunities to do ministry.

But I'm not so good at balance. And as it usually does when I'm thinking of balance the lyrics from an old Steven Curtis Chapman song keep running through my mind. The song is "My Turn Now" and it basically says that Jesus came to give his life away and now it's my turn. So does that mean I just give my everything to the ministry, allow myself to burn out, then after leaving, recover and move on? Knowing that this process may end up with not recovering at some point? Or is there a way to "give my life away" and still have balance?

These are the thoughts running through my head as I head into another summer and I see the hours increasing.

Eric