Student Ministry Blog

I have a history of driving cars that most of the teens affectionately refer to as
ghettomobiles. My latest is The Granny Car – a 1997 Buick LeSabre complete with
the mauve interior. It squeals, the driver’s seat falls back if I push too hard
against it, and the gas gauge doesn’t work.

I discovered the gas gauge was broken one morning before school when I ran out of gas and
Deana had to break away from a school function she was volunteering at to go
home, pick of the gas can, fill it up and bring it to me. Now, I have to reset
the mileage every time I fill up and pay close attention to the miles I drive
every day. Once I accidentally reset the mileage and forgot I did. I ran out of
gas. Deana had to rescue me again. I pay close attention to the miles! I fill
up weekly whether I think I need to or not. I do everything I can to prevent
running out of gas (except have the gauge repaired).

I recently read a blog made me stop and think about whether or not I’m living with a full
tank. Rather than repost the blog here I thought I’d ask the same questions he
did:

There are things that give you life and there are things that drain your life. What are
they?  Here are some of mine:

Things that drain me:

•  Working more than 55 hours a week
• Administrative tasks (budgets, etc)
• Shopping
• Taking care of health care details with my mom
• Not getting at least 8 hours of sleep
• Filling my work week with too many tasks rather than people
• Not managing my time well on Refuge nights
• Having more nights out of my home than in my home during the week
• Not eating well

Things that energize me, bring me life (outside of my family)

• Running at least 3 days each week
• Spending at least 20 minutes in a spiritual discipline on a daily basis
• Taking a day off to play
• Reading a good novel
• Spending half my work time with people
• Being with students
• Spending time with my wife (I can’t resist. She’s not just family. She’s my best friend.)
• Hiking and taking photos
• Blogging/writing
• Conversations with friends

Here’s what I find – the more balance I have between the things that bring me life and
those that drain me the more life I have. That means the more I have to offer
my family. When my tank is full, I can show up in the lives of others with
something to offer rather than needing them to fill me up.

What are the things that drain you? What are those things that bring you life?