Brainstorm Time: VACATION & DAYS OFF
A few months ago, a Youth Pastor friend of mine wrote on his Facebook status line something to the extent of, “Spending time hanging with the family”. Now, that is great that he was taking time with his family. But, I replied to him, “Then why are you on the computer?”. I love this guy and we laughed about it, but I think it brings up a good issue.
How do we, as Youth Pastors and Ministers, take quality vacation time and days off? It can be so hard considering so much rests on your shoulders. However, in Exodus 20:8-11, God commands us to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
So, because I started off my blog with this quick story, I have a true confession – I’m on vacation. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be blogging or doing any work while on vacation. But, my mind still works and I wanted to write down a few thoughts early in the morning before the family got up.
Therefore, I would love for you all to brainstorm how do YOU effectively take days off without worrying about work? For example, do you turn off your cell phone?
I promise, I will try my hardest not to respond to any great comments about this until after I get home from vacation. But, unless you all are on your day off or on vacation, post a comment or 2 so that we all can be encouraging each other.
Once again, your blogs are right on target. I am struggling with this issue on how to seperate family time from youth ministry time and how to effectively take time off. As is in totally off. Kids text me, fb me, call me, etc. And honestly, I love them and how do I ignore what's going on in their lives. It's caused us to do some major thinking and talking in our marriage and we are seeking some wiser counsel (the Word and older believers) on how to best manage this). Thinking about having someone else reset my computer password while on vacation ???