“To do the work of others is slavery. To do the work of God is true liberation.”
― Anonymous
I am the Sabbath School teacher and Pathfinder director at my church. I also plan Adventurers and any other youth activities that happen in our church. I do all this, and I love it, but it gets to be too much.
I love what I do. I love children’s ministries. I love seeing the kids week after week and being a part of their lives–and letting them be a part of mine.
I love the rare connection we get when they’ll open up and tell me about their day or their week.
I love the memories I have from first teaching Cradle Roll at a branch Sabbath School as a preteen.
I love it and sometimes I resent it until it can feel like I hate it…and that’s okay to say.
I’ve felt for awhile now the heated edges of my time that warns of burnout. If you work in ministry in any capacity, I bet you’ve felt it too. It shrinks our patience and burns up all our energy. Burnout can steal our joy. It can feel inevitable and heavy. We can let it take the joy out of our ministry, or we can try and manage it.
- Plan ahead.
When we’re feeling crunched, it can be difficult to do anything, let alone make a plan. The worst thing we can do to ourselves and our ministry is to procrastinate. Putting off the planning can disrupt sleep, add to event anxiety, and contribute to imposter syndrome. - Maintain healthy habits.
Eat balanced meals that fuel your daily activities. Drink 8-10 glasses of water every day. Go to sleep and wake up at around the same times each day. Exercise regularly. - Delegate tasks.
Ask for help. Pick the task you like the absolute least and think of a person willing to do some or all of that task. Call that person today and ask them if they’re willing to help. - Spend time with God.
Remember why you’re doing this. If you’re ministering to youth, recall why that is important to you. Whether music ministry, communications, family ministries, whatever it is, remember why you did it in the first place. Connect with the Savior that you’re sharing through your ministry work. As the old children’s song goes: “read your Bible, pray everyday, and you’ll grow, grow, grow!”
