Seriously though… I know the fact that I am leaving Jason with the kids this weekend does not make me a bad wife or Mother… even if it is on his birthday.
But this does raise the constant question of people in ministry or people who are passionate about giving their lives for a cause greater than themselves… What is more important?
This weekend I am walking in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, I will walk with thousands of other and together we will raise millions of dollars to fight cancer. It's a noble cause, it's a worthy cause but for people who believe they have the power to change the world a worthy cause is not hard to find.
People in ministry feel a constant tension between the priorities of family and doing "God's" Work. God's work is never done so you have to ask yourself often if your actions match your priorities. At the end of your life the people who will carry on your legacy will be your inner circle. Your family, children, friends, the people who shared your passion and mission.
However there are no guaruntees… if your actions don't match what you say is important to you then you may not have people at the end of your days to carry on the legacy of your life.
Jesus spend time ministering but He also spent quality time with those who would carry on the legacy of His life. A legacy that many of us are still carrying today.
Although I am joking about being a bad wife for leaving my husband with the kids on his birthday, Jason I didn't reach the decision for me to experience this without much discussion and intention. We decided together this would be a valuable experience and worthy of investing into. As Ministers we can get so focussed on our own churches that we don't even see the great things that are going on all around us.
I am so blessed to be married to a minister who values His family. He is a constant example to me of someone who puts his family first as an act of worship to God. I am also blessed that he would support me by giving up his birthday so I can go out and fight Breast Cancer.
Are you passionate about something greater than yourself? Does your passion pull you away from things you value?
When I started on this church planting journey last August, I wanted to put so much into it–I loved it! So I did, along with working full time, being a single mom of 3 travel hockey playing, active teen guys and doing ministry stuff at my present church! I was doing “all the right things”, just way too much of all of them!
Balancing isn’t easy, but if it doesn’t happen…with time for God, family and rest…it will all fall apart.
A great book on this is “Choosing to Cheat” by Andy Stanley–worth the read!