Whether it is season of life or just life in general, I seem to consistently feel as though my bandwidth is tapped. Even as we have grown as a church and hired more staff, life is always more than enough to keep us busy.
This is, in large part, why I wrote my articles over the summer about busyness and rest. I was, predominantly, writing to myself, trying to keep my own brain focused and in tune with truth.
When life pushes me into seasons of evaluation and revaluation, I tend to think through a basic three-column structure.
Column I includes the things that I need to do. This includes things like taking care of my health, being a present father, a caring husband, and the responsibilities of my job.
(For another exercise, try doing this same process just with your job or just with your home).
Columns II are things that I want to do, things that I enjoy doing, but they really aren’t my responsibilities.
At work, this could be something you are good at and like to do, but really isn’t part of your job description.
At home, this could be something basic like ‘cleaning’ if you have the extra money to hire a cleaning service and relieve yourself of that duty.
Columns III are things that I shouldn’t be doing. Vocationally, these are tasks that need to be delegated rather than absorbed.
At home, these are unhealthy patterns and habits that take away from my family.
Personally, these are things that are detrimental to my life.
If you do this exercise, you will find that Column I fills up with more than enough things than you already have time for. Column II has its fair share of activities, and Column III, if we are honest, has more items in it than you’d like to admit.
Writing my Ask Pastor Bill article each week falls solidly in Column II. I enjoy doing it. It is nice to have a platform to engage with frequently asked questions and to have exposure to people who might not otherwise visit Revolve Church, go to our website, or download our app.
That being said, the struggle with Column II is knowing when you need to say no to it – even if just for a season.
Over the next month, I will be taking time to pray about if my Herald article is where I should be investing my time. Perhaps I will drop to a monthly column, maybe I will continue as is, or by chance, I might cease entirely. At this point, I do not know.
Bill Laky is the husband to Gina, father to Emma and Eden, founding pastor of Revolve Church in North Cape May (www.RevolveChurchNJ.com), and a follower of Jesus Christ.
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