Musings on Spiritual Matters

This past week I was in Tennessee for a vacation.  It was more of a family reunion, but it was time off from the average days work.  Though, I did preach on Sunday and provided a devotional on Wednesday, but mostly this stuff is never work because I enjoy doing it and had it already prepared.  I have learned though to take vacation time off.  This means that I unhook the phone and stay away from the Internet.  I really hide from the world.  This is really the only way that I can do it.  If not, there will be emails and requests, questions and concerns that I will deal with while I am away.  This might be just little stuff, but it might be something larger that might stress me out for the week.  Sometimes minister’s feel guilty in taking time off or unplugging from the world.  This is because most of us are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  We want to be there for people in a time of need.  Other times minister’s feel guilty because the members make them feel small in taking time off.  You might get a comment or two about why you need time off because you only work one day a week.  Mostly these are harmless, but can hurt inside.  Here are a few good rules in taking your vacation: 1.  Go far away.  If you are too close, it is too easy to be expected back if something happens at church.  You will feel guilty in not making that hospital visit.  So just go far and no one will expect it.  2. Unplug.  Guys turn off the cellphone or the blackberry.  Start the emails and the contact for a little while.  3. Spend time with your family.  Do not vacation with the members, you can sometimes but not every time.  You are still the preacher if  you do.  Use the time for your family and not congregational relationships.  4. Go to church on Sunday, and do not announce that you are a preacher.  You might end of preaching if you do.  Instead just sit there like a member of the Lord’s body and experience church from the other side.  Your wife will look forward to you sitting next to her.  Do her that honor.  Anyway, I had a good vacation and I hope the suggestions help.

Related posts:

1. Going on Vacation
2. Family Picture from the Vacation
3. Vacation Bible School is Here
4. Days Off For Ministers
5. Money Men, Ministers, and the Master

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This entry was posted by Matthew on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.