{"id":31723,"date":"2022-09-10T15:41:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-reminders-for-managing-holiday-ministry-expectations\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:41:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:41:33","slug":"4-reminders-for-managing-holiday-ministry-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-reminders-for-managing-holiday-ministry-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Reminders for Managing Holiday Ministry Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"
Maria Brauer photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Maina Mwaura<\/em><\/p>\n

My three-year-old daughter confronted me a few Christmases ago.<\/p>\n

She let me know how she felt I was never home, and she was afraid I was going to miss Santa Claus\u2019 visit. Her words came from a purity of heart, yet they stung me\u2014quite badly.<\/p>\n

My daughter was only saying what she felt\u2014that I wasn\u2019t engaged with my family during the most wonderful season of the year.<\/p>\n

As ministers, it can be hard to enjoy the holiday season as busy schedules and added responsibilities add up and demand more of our time and mind. Between the parties, musicals, and services it can be hard to realize we\u2019re also called to enjoy the season, especially with our family.<\/p>\n

Experience in ministry through many holiday seasons has taught me to truly enjoy the season. Here are four strategies I use to that end.<\/p>\n

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1. Plan ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I struggle with this. But I\u2019ve learned that when I do plan ahead, it\u2019s amazing how I can stick to it.<\/p>\n

At my first church, I worked for a wonderful pastor who insisted that at the start of each year you should block out time for your family and self-renewal days. While it took me a few years to do the work of planning, when I did, I realized my family knew that it was something that I was taking seriously.<\/p>\n

So I encourage you right now, before the season even begins, to stop and block off time to set aside for yourself and your family.<\/p>\n

2. You\u2019re going to disappoint some people<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My childhood pastor, Jim Henry, recently reminded me that in church life there are more members than there are you, and this you won\u2019t meet everyone\u2019s expectations\u2014no matter what you do.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way that you’re going to make every Christmas party or get-together. Even when it comes to your church events it\u2019s okay to empower others to lead. You\u2019ll find that when you do empower other people you can give your best to your family, and the church Christmas activities you prioritize for yourself.<\/p>\n

Another important thing along these lines to remember is that \u201cno\u201d is more than OK; it\u2019s often necessary.<\/p>\n

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One of the best things we can do for ourselves and our family schedules during the Christmas season is to say no to those functions that may overtake our family schedule. When you say \u201cyes\u201d you need to fully understand what you will be giving up as a result.<\/p>\n

3. Have fun<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My daughter is now six and for the last two years, we\u2019ve made it a family Christmastime tradition to ride the \u201cPink Pig\u201d at our local mall. Although the Christmas season has yet to start, she\u2019s already talking about how much fun it\u2019ll be when we go again this year.<\/p>\n

Sure, we have work to do, and I know life isn\u2019t all fun and games, but life isn\u2019t all about just doing ministry, either. Remember the first ministry we should place before the church is to serve is to our family.<\/p>\n

4. Reflect<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Take time for reflecting on the past year and for the upcoming new year. Every year in this season I ask God to give me a word for next year. My word this past year was \u201cthankful.\u201d I find it amazing how much that word has permeated every part of my life.<\/p>\n

However, I would have never gotten that word had I not slowed down and rested, and asked God for that word. I\u2019ve learned to love slowing down during this time of the year\u2014to pray and reflect, and look back at what God has done and to dream about what He is going to do.<\/p>\n

MAINA MWAURA<\/strong> is a freelance journalist and minister who lives in the Atlanta area with his wife, Tiffiney, and daughter Zyan.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Sacred Holidays: Less Chaos, More Jesus<\/h2>\n

Becky Kiser<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community 3 Reorienting Truths for the Discouraged Pastor <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maria Brauer photo – Unsplash By Maina Mwaura My three-year-old daughter confronted me a few Christmases ago. She let me know how she felt I was never home, and she was afraid I was going to miss Santa Claus\u2019 visit. Her words came from a purity of heart, yet they stung me\u2014quite badly. My daughter … Continue reading “4 Reminders for Managing Holiday Ministry Expectations”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}