The Monster is Always Hungry

Earlier this week, our entire church staff headed off to The Cove (Billy Graham Training Center) in Asheville, NC for an all staff retreat. It was a beautiful place to retreat! We had a blast, and were spiritually refreshed and refocused at the same time. 

I learned a lot about the people that I work with, and what they are like when they don’t have a task list looming in front of them. For example, I had no idea that Aaron Goin (our finance director) was such a party animal, or that he was so aggressive in a go-cart! I also didn’t know that Caroline Ervin (our membership director) is secretly an awesome drummer, or that Gloria Petrowski (Pastor’s Assistant) was such a fierce cornhole competitor. 

(If you don’t know what cornhole is, just Google it. Please don’t try to speculate on its definition. It will only end badly.)

This weekend, Adam and I are heading off for a weekend getaway in Chicago! I’ve never been to Chicago, so I’m pretty excited.  Anytime that we are able to slip away for a few days together, we learn new things about one another that we never would have uncovered in our everyday existence. 

He is absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt the love of my life, but we are also jointly responsible for making sure that things in our home and at work get done. Let’s face it. In marriage, the “all work, no play” days far outweigh the “let’s cuddle and talk for hours while staring into each others’ eyes” days. A huge part of marriage is commitment, but it is very important to have those times together where you are reminded of the reason that you committed in the first place. Ninety-nine percent of the time, these days must be intentional if they are to happen at all!

This is true in ministry as well. 

Intentional time away for reflection, evaluation and remembering is vital. Our Worship and Creative Arts Leader, Michele Stephens, reminds me often that “the monster is always hungry.” In ministry, there’s always something to do. There’s always a process that needs tweaked. There’s always a phone call to make. There’s always a schedule that needs to be done. It can be so easy to lose the joy of serving God through serving others.

Whether it’s a getaway with the church staff, or with my spouse, time away from the everyday grind brings back the focus that I need so that I can return with a clear mind, energized, and reminded of what I love about the man that I married, or the life that I have committed to use in serving God by serving others.

Without focus, it’s just another thing that I have to do.