RHYTHMS OF LIFE

"Everything on earth has its own time and its own season." Ecclesiastes 3:1

Our family is experiencing our first real change of season since coming to Victoria, you can see it coming- the day's are getting longer (literally thanks to daylight savings...who's idea was that anyway??), the sun's shining bright (allegedly), and jeans and jumpers are being exchanged for boardies and t-shirts! The kids notice the change of seasons as well- how many times have I had to tell our kids that there is still 5 weeks+ of school left and to get out of bed!

In our Christian walk there are seasons and rhythms of life that we experience, and maturity as a Christian is to recognise the change of seasons as they arrive. Anita and I have faced the dilemma of our serving capacity during these different seasons...in our previous church plant Jake and Ethan were really young and Beth had just been born, then we had the surprise arrival of Benny and we found then that juggling toddlers, ministry and family responsibility was very hectic. We had to come to the point of reassuring ourselves that at this time in our lives our ministry is first to our families, which may not seem glamourous at the time, but is the greatest call that God has placed on our lives.

Sometime's there will be seasons of escalated work that you cannot escape, and this isn't a bad thing! Farmers understand this. When harvest comes it's on for weeks on end! When you feel the tug of compromising family time for ministry, when competing interests pull you away from kids and home, recognise that this too is a seasonal thing. And blokes quite often we're not the ones to see this! But our wives know! Whenever I begin leaning towards ministry and work-life at the cost of home time, Anita gently reminds me.Then it's my responsibility to set boundaries as to when I get home and for how long.

When the season of busyness hits, you need to be intentional about setting boundaries. Why not...

Ask yourselves how long does this have to go for (2 weeks? 1 week?)

Ask yourself if this task/job/meeting is unavoidable or can someone else do it? (is this something that only I can do?)

Ask how am I going to compensate for lost time at home? Weekends away? Arriving home early for a week?

Ask yourself what can I bring home after those meetings? Surprise/cakes/movies and pizzas often work well!

God bless, Dan