It’s late. Finally boarded the second plane after a layover on my way home from from a business trip. I’m tired. I’ve got one nerve left. And the airplane seat seems smaller than it was when I boarded the first plan yesterday. The cabin shrunk. Everybody seems to bump into me more often. Or maybe I’m just noticing it more. I’m tired. That’s all.

Every morning, we wake to a brand spanking new bundle of energy. It’s ready, so off we go. As the day wears on, the bundle gets smaller and smaller. The emotional cartilage that cushions the stresses of the day against the nerves has worn thin. We get cranky. We get irritable. We get (fill in the blank).

RHYTHM

I got rhythm. You got rhythm. All God’s children got rhythm. We start out with the fresh and end up with the stale. That’s the way it goes. And you have two choices…

You can fight the rhythm. Keep pressing forward amid the depleted energy. Like driving on empty to an important event, you will eventually lose. I guarantee it.

Or you can align yourself* with the rhythm. See it for what it is and lower you expectations. And you will win. I guarantee it.

*Notice I didn’t say RESIGN yourself TO the rhythm. ALIGN yourself WITH it. Resigning is giving up. Not good. Your self-esteem will will resent you for it. Aligning is making a choice to invest in yourself.

So, your turn. What are your thoughts about dealing with a depleted energy?

“We all need white space/margin in our lives.”

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

“To be still.” (that is the question)

I lifted these quotes from yesterday’s post from my good friend, Evan McBroom’s company over at Fishhook. Lindsay Dudeck, who works over there, prepared the post.

Since I didn’t particularly have anything worth saying in today’s post, I thought I’d exercise a bit of my own white space and say nothing in this “Nothing To Say” post. How’s that?

[my own little white space]

You got white space?

Heard about a book called Your Life In Rhythm. I was hooked as soon as I heard the title. I got a copy and tweeted an invitation for a few other men to join me in a 7-week book study. A group responded and we determined not to let this be just another book that ended up on our bookshelves collecting dust.

Last week, we were privileged to have the author of Your Life In Rhythm, Bruce B. Miller, join us on the call. He graciously shared from his heart and willingly allowed me to share the recording of that session with you all.

I, and my new-found band of rhythm brothers, are just about done with our book study. I think I speak for all of them when I say You.Have.Got.To.Get.This.Book. It will change your life, honest.

Listen to the interview

Now, I ask you: Are you gonna get the book? Are you gonna set up a group to go through it with you? Are you ready to change your life for the better? Great! Let me know how it goes…

Bruce also wrote Your Church In Rhythm. Check it out!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

Do you put in lots of extra time at work?

Are you juggling responsibilities at home, work, church, school – it seems you have too many balls in the air?

I recently became aware of a book entitled, Your Life In Rhythm written by Bruce B. Miller (thanks for the tweet @tonyjalicea). Upon reading the first chapter, I said “WOW! This is right.on.!” This will definitely become a book in the arsenal of Serving Strong’s library.

But as with any book, conference, seminar, retreat, revival…. there is an initial “aha!” moment filled with the joy of new awareness and excitingly rapid personal growth. But inevitably it’s followed by a gradual return to status as usual. This book (and many like it) is just too profound. The principles contained in the pages of Your Life In Rhythm must be woven into the fabric of the ministry leader’s journey. Therefore,

Call To Action

I am looking for 4 men* to join me for 7 weeks beginning mid July to get together via conference calls (lasting approx 45 minutes each) to review the 14 chapters AT NO COST. Two have already signed up and I’m looking for two more. Maybe that’s you, if you can identify with the questions above and you are ready to sink deep into personal growth and rhythm. Start your own journey in the context of community. Here’s what you need to do:

Buy the book

Contact me for more details about times and days

Start praying and reading the book

This will be life changing. It will propel you further than you every thought you could go in your ministry leadership and personal growth.

Talk to you soon!

UPDATE: THIS GROUP IS FULL. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN A FUTURE SMALL GROUP CONTACT ME.

* Women, if this post inspires you, why not take on a similar challenge with your friends?

Photo: the_girl

With the aid of my Accountability Network (you do have an Accountability Network, don’t you?), I have been able to institute a few thresholds in my life. Like anybody else, I am a work in process. Here is what I’m working on right now:

I threshold…

…at the cell tower. Check out this post.

…at the door to the bedroom. During the week, I no longer bring in my laptop, iPod Touch, or smart phone into the bedroom as I prepare for sleep. They are off limits. This way, my eyes are no longer peering into a lighted screen just before I start dreaming. I leave electronics behind and embrace needed sleep/rest.

…at the door to the powder room. Each morning, God invites me into the little half bath just off the dining room. This is His time. All I do in the darkness is kneel face-down and listen. No requests. No intercession. No asking. Just listening for that “still small voice.” I leave behind all the activity and embrace God just for who God is. I’m not the only one doing this, by the way. Read here.

…at each conversation with my wife. This one I have to work on a bit harder, but it’s worth it. I’ve known my wife since February of 1980. We’ve been together a long time. It’s very easy for me to take her for granted. So, whenever I am talking to her I try to let everything else go and enter into her eyes. I give her full attention. I leave behind all that consumes me and embrace the wonder of a lady who, for whatever reason, sees value in me.

…at the beginning of worship at my local church. Because I try to make a habit of pouring my life into the lives of others all week, I come to our gatherings in need of corporate worship. Even though there are people to see and talk with at church, when worship begins, I set it all aside and seek to praise the God who, for whatever reason, sees value in me.

I certainly don’t have all the answers. And I struggle at times to keep my thresholds fresh. But those are the 5 key ones for me right now.

Your turn: What are the thresholds that keep you strong in ministry leadership?

…

Serving strong in ministry leadership requires healthy rhythm. By rhythm, I mean going from the spending of energy to the replenishing of energy. Back and forth. Here, let me explain it musically. Look at the structure of most songs and how it relates to life rhythm:

photo: Horia Varlan

Intro = Head off the pillow. Get dressed. Here we go!

Verse One = Normal events of the day.

Chorus = Coming home to be with family,  rest, play, pursue a hobby.

Verse Two = Good morning. Another set of normal events in a day.

Chorus = Again, return home to rest, hang out with the kids, kick back and read.

Bridge = Uh oh, life threw you a curve ball. The chords are strangely different. No resolve. Didn’t see that issue coming.

Chorus = Ah, back home to rest, get some exercise, pray, read a good book, take a walk.

Ending = Lay your head on the pillow at night. Lights out.

This is good rhythm. Ever listen to a song that is only a chord played over and over and over again? Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Or a song that is just a bridge? Doesn’t make sense. And yet there are those in ministry leadership who think it’s perfectly okay to give and give and give (aka playing one chord over and over) without coming back to replenish (aka playing the whole song structure).

If you listen to music, you understand life rhythm. Next time you are driving down the road and a song comes on the radio, listen for the structure. Reflect on your own “song”.  Are you in good life rhythm?

What sort of things make up YOUR “chorus” (your replenishment time)?