Messages are prepped, Small Group leaders have been communicated with, staff meetings are over, the critical emails have been answered, and now it’s time for you day off. You do take days off, right? Well here are a couple ideas for how to take full advantage of that time.
Go Dark
If you don’t turn off the cell phone, email, or doorbell to anyone but family, you should set up that boundary. There’s nothing wrong with you putting some serious boundaries around who can have your time on your day off. For most youth workers we give and give of ourselves, and there needs to be a time where we can know we don’t have to be “on.” There will always be one more thing to do, but if you don’t take a break from the to-do list, you could be consumed by business and lose your effectiveness.
Love Your Family
I have a wife and two kids. I really try hard to care for them in the midst of my normal workweek schedule, but I make an extra effort to do something special for or with them on my day off. My marriage and my effectiveness as a parent is better when I pour into my family when I have no other distractions. Visit your kids at school, go on a lunch date with your wife, clean the house, or pick up the kids from school early and grab some ice cream. Love them practically, but intentionally
Plan a Retreat
If your day off is Monday, leave town Sunday night and take a day for spiritual retreat. Find a friend’s garage or cabin. Find a place to tent camp, or an amazing park bench to sit on for a day. Focus on your own heart. If you don’t do this twice a year, you probably should. I try to go into a retreat expecting God to speak to my soul about my relationship with him and not about the ministry I’m directing. I need my Savior to speak clearly with me and I’ve found that I work best when I get away from “life.”
Play
If you like to surf, shoot a gun, knit, or paint, do it. Do something you enjoy and bring a smile to your face. Allow yourself to enjoy life and not feel guilty for doing so. If you have a family, be willing to rotate your days off where maybe one week you do something together as a family and then the next week you do something just for yourself. Your day off should be a priority to you so do something with it that will replenish you, allow you to keep your sanity and help you be a more effective pastor to your students.
Danny Bowers www.twitter.com/dannybowers