Generally speaking, I have not regretted getting older through the years. I don't feel old at 57. My body hasn't let me down in any major way yet. I feel like I am somewhere in the middle of life - not much toward the end as far as I can tell.
But recently I have been struggling to get through my workweeks. It seemed to me that I was following my normal routines, but by the end of the week I still didn't have things done - or at least not done as well as I would like. Then I would think of friends of mine in ministry and all the work that THEY get done. THEY don't seem to have this problem. What is going on?
I was relieved by the process of writing my Pastor's Report for the Spring Meeting of the church. It turns out that in the past three months, in addition to spending about three weeks in China, I had special events almost every weekend. We had a Men's Breakfast, a Missions Conference, a Men's Retreat, a Work Day, a Ladies' Day. In addition I have been working on recruiting a part-time assistant pastor and that has involved a couple of trips to do interviews. There is also the "normal" preparation of a Sunday School class lesson, two Sunday messages and a Wednesday teen group program. Plus we are planning and preparing for our Summer programs and buying flowers for Mother's Day and meeting with the board and calling people regarding the Spring Meeting and setting up tables and moving tables... On top of all of that, Lola and I worked through a couple of weeks of buying a new car and I'm trying to do the reading for my next seminary seminar.
I found this all very reassuring. I've been more tired than usual because I've been more busy than usual. That doesn't mean that I might not have done more with less sleep twenty years ago. But it does seem to me that it is reasonable to be tired when I am very busy with lots of work.
Whew!
But recently I have been struggling to get through my workweeks. It seemed to me that I was following my normal routines, but by the end of the week I still didn't have things done - or at least not done as well as I would like. Then I would think of friends of mine in ministry and all the work that THEY get done. THEY don't seem to have this problem. What is going on?
- Am I being lazy?
- Am I being unwise in my use of time?
- Have my mental abilities been compromised?
- Am I not getting enough sleep? Do I have sleep apnea?
- Is my exercise routine (recently renewed) wearing me out?
- AM I TOO OLD TO CONTINUE MY MINISTRY?
I was relieved by the process of writing my Pastor's Report for the Spring Meeting of the church. It turns out that in the past three months, in addition to spending about three weeks in China, I had special events almost every weekend. We had a Men's Breakfast, a Missions Conference, a Men's Retreat, a Work Day, a Ladies' Day. In addition I have been working on recruiting a part-time assistant pastor and that has involved a couple of trips to do interviews. There is also the "normal" preparation of a Sunday School class lesson, two Sunday messages and a Wednesday teen group program. Plus we are planning and preparing for our Summer programs and buying flowers for Mother's Day and meeting with the board and calling people regarding the Spring Meeting and setting up tables and moving tables... On top of all of that, Lola and I worked through a couple of weeks of buying a new car and I'm trying to do the reading for my next seminary seminar.
I found this all very reassuring. I've been more tired than usual because I've been more busy than usual. That doesn't mean that I might not have done more with less sleep twenty years ago. But it does seem to me that it is reasonable to be tired when I am very busy with lots of work.
Whew!
Nope...you're getting older...trust me...
ReplyDeleteI'm getting older, so you HAVE to be getting older too!
Hahaha! I love you Daddy!!