The Monday Morning Debrief: How are you filling up your tank?

Give, give, give.  That is a big part of our jobs as ministers.  If a student is in trouble and calls, we step up and minister.  It doesn’t matter if it is midnight or 4 am, when the call comes in, we step up and give.  If a leader needs someone to talk to, we are a primary source and we help them through it.  If a parent is struggling with their child, they come to us to talk it out.

There are so many emotional ups and downs that youth ministers encounter that it can be very draining at times.  With all the giving that we do, our tanks (both emotionally and physically) can become empty very quickly.  So what are you doing to fill up your tank?  What things do you have in place that recharges you so that you can be giving out of a fuller tank than an empty one.

Here are 3 things I have done over the years that I have found to be helpful:

1. Start getting poured into.  Whether it is a small group (of adults that you are NOT leading), a church service that is really ministering to you or a mentorship time where someone is speaking truth into your life and encouraging you, you need to be getting poured into. You can’t keep pouring into students and without getting that tank of yours filled up.
2. Start doing things for you. What do you love to do?  What do you think about doing that really gets you pumped?  Well, here’s a novel concept – whatever you love to do, DO IT.  We sacrifice a lot as ministers, but if we continue to sacrifice without doing things that we really enjoy, we lose who we really are.  For instance, if you like the golf but never seem to have the time to do it, mark it on your calendar to go golfing with a few friends.  If you like going to sporting events but never have the time to do it, mark it on your calendar to do it.  Don’t take students you are ministering to with you.  Take some of your friends with you.  Do things that you enjoy and ENJOY THEM!
3. Get healthy. This is similar to #2 in the sense that you have to start making you a priority.  However, this is different in the sense that you have to make your health a priority.  Last spring I started running, not because I really love to run but because I was so physically and emotionally drained, I needed an outlet.  I needed to run to lose weight (which I did) and to cry out to God for my family, myself and my ministry.  It was a great time for me.  I also started reading – not just the ministry or self-help books, but books that were interesting to me and books that just made me lose myself in a story.  I never was too into reading for leisure, but after finishing up my 1st leisure book in years, I am already looking for another one to read.

Here’s the bottom line, if you have been in ministry even just a short time, you know how demanding and draining it can be.  If we are not taking care of ourselves, then we are going to lose who we are and ultimately we are going to be taken out.  These 3 examples are things I have found to be helpful over the years, but as always, they are not the only 3 things that will help fill up your tanks.

So right now, TAKE A MINUTE and think through what are ways you need to start getting healthy.  What can you do and/or what have you done that have kept you healthy.  Post a comment so that we can all benefit and learn from each other.