Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve had the time to write a post. I’m sorry for the lack of updating, and to our online friends, sorry, we’ve missed you guys. James and I are hoping to fix that this week. This post is my first step in that direction. Wish me luck.

Recently, I’ve been dealing with a lot of focus issues, mainly due to my too-full schedule. My wife is back in school, and since I’m the only one who can work, I’ve been working two jobs. The hour load has only really been about 45 or so hours a week, but working at two places almost every day makes it feel like I work a lot more. Add on to that all the church work that I need to get done during the evening after work and you have a reciepe for a lot of stress. Simmer over low heat, bring to a boil.

Sadly, the first area of my life to get its time shortened is my personal time with God. When I’m stressed and have no time, I usually wind up cutting out the most important time of all. Why do I do it? Why do I cut down on spending time with my Creator in favor of all my other obligations? The answer is simple, but wrong. I operate under the idea that ministry time = personal time. I usually think that because I spend so much of my time in ministry, that it should count as my personal time. For some reason I act like God should give me a break and just count my service as time spent with him.

As I was thinking about it, I realized that I couldn’t be the only person in a position of ministry to feel this way. Many of the pastors I know who have left ministry due to “burnout” have had this problem. A few months ago, I finished a book called Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel. Part of the book deals with this very idea. Craig says that in becoming a full-time minister, he had become a part-time Christian. As I continue to try keeping my personal time with God alive and well, what are some of the ways you do it?