The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging
fellow women in ministry. Please enjoy this month’s Encouragement from Laura Dallas, director of the Media Center for the NC Conference of the UMC. Anyone can sign up to receive these monthly emails here.
Last week, I asked my 7-year-old daughter when she wanted to go to her afterschool coding class, a class that she enjoys, and she responded that she didn’t want to go at all. I asked her why she no longer wanted to do this activity that she had been enjoying, and she responded, “it’s too much.”
She was right. We had been doing too much. At this age, I was trying to pack in all the magical holiday activities while they still seemed magical to her. We had been to five holiday activities in a week and a half on top of our regular activities, and we had a few more coming up. They were all fun and magical experiences, but it was too much, and it was causing us to lose some of our everyday joy.
Read: Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSVue)
Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Reflect: When I saw that Partners in Health and Wholeness was hosting a webinar on “How to Find Rest in the Holidays and Beyond,” I attended. Travis Jeffords addressed how ministry leaders can seek to make themselves worthy by sacrificing themselves for others – by doing too much. But God calls us worthy just as we are. Some verses in the Bible may lead us to think that we are called to give of ourselves constantly, but Jesus commands us to rest, and God commands us to rest for a whole day, every week. Even Jesus, with only three years of ministry available to him, often withdrew from the crowds to rest with God. You can, too.
Cultivating rhythms of rest may seem impossible, but why does it seem that way? What is your resistance to saying no? How can you have conversations with your community about the importance of rest and renewal for all of us?
Take Action: These are the suggestions Jeffords gave in the webinar. He recommends starting with just one. You have probably heard these before but consider them now in a new context where rest is a recognition of your inherent worthiness of God’s love for you just as you are.
Daily
- Take a 30-60 minute lunch break where you’re not working and practice mindful eating
- Take a 5-15 minute prayer walk and practice mindful breathing
- Light a candle in the evening and practice prayer or contemplation
Weekly
- Take one (or two) days off every week
- Make sure several nights every week have nothing on the calendar
Monthly/Quarterly
- Take regular breaks from the Sunday service
- Get out of town
- Take mental health days
- Delegate
Annually
- Take two full weeks of vacation
- Take separate time away that is designated for writing sermons
- Take a sabbatical
In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women