What are your holidays like? What is the word that comes to mind? Rest and fun, or stress, or a distant memory, or non-existent? 1. Know the purpose of the holiday. Holidays are about rest, fun and building deep connections. It’s a time for creating memories. The shared experience of this time together allows people to grow closer. Holidays with

How do you prepare for your holidays? 1. Put it in the calendar. Early in my ministry life I learnt to set the date in the calendar in the first round of entries for the coming year. In planning the coming year, along with the things you can’t change—weddings, anniversaries, school, uni, required work commitments like must attend conference—holidays need

The numbers game Over a coffee, one of my Pastor friends was lamenting the recent low attendances in his church. “It must be the school holidays,” he said, “people go away.” He was obviously a little discouraged. It’s funny how the numbers affect us. We are up when they are up, and down when they are down. Get a group

Remove the shame I was embarrassed to admit that I was moderately depressed. It was much easier to admit to high stress and low anxiety in my burnout. It felt ok to acknowledge the high stress, as it came with a false badge of honour awarded by a busy life. My embarrassment over depression came from a wrong understanding of

KEITH FARMER’S STORY – burnout, recovery and mentoring Today’s guest blogger: Dr Keith Farmer. I had been in full-time ministry for 11 years (in two churches in Sydney) when I accepted a dual ministry in Melbourne (half-time as an Associate Pastor in a local church and half-time as a Faculty Member of a Theological College). My teaching areas were Pastoral

Values and relationships Discovering what you value and believe will have an impact on your relationships. If you are are a single person, it will help you to know with whom to build connections and what importance you place on existing connections. If you are in a relationship, it will help you understand how to strengthen your relationship. Adrienne and

Identifying your core values and beliefs. By the time I met Adrienne (we married in 1979), I knew that my life would be spent helping people to know God. Finding God had changed my life and given it purpose and meaning. In planning for marriage, we chatted about how this would impact our children. It saddened me when I met

How core values and beliefs inspire and help us thrive* The third big thing that helps us thrive is clarity in our core values and beliefs. For the other two, living with a purpose and vital relationships, see my previous blogs. I love helping couples prepare for marriage. People take lessons to drive a car, and they get training for

How are your key relationships? Along with living a life of purpose where gifts and goals align, a key to thriving* is having great relationships. Relationships that experience a healthy level of connectedness provide an atmosphere that enables us to thrive. We flourish with the right conditions. Similar to an orchid plant in an orchid house, where moisture and temperature