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My heart beats for love. I want to be different. I want to be who I am called to be. WORTHY and LOVED!

Monday, October 3, 2016

#healthypastor - Plan

    People who know me best would describe me as a planner. I plan my days and I plan long term with a calendar. I plan in my personal life and for work. I plan because it cuts down on stress.
   Now, I will be the first person to tell you that not everything can be planned. Emergency hospital visits and funerals come up. But most things that other people try to make an emergency in your schedules, actually aren't. They can be scheduled just like they would be with anyone else. One of the things I started at my last two parishes was suggesting time frames for non-emergent phone calls to the parsonage. The truth is we serve a wide variety of people - some of whom think its okay to call at 7am and others who think 10:30pm is a perfectly acceptable time to make a phone call. By suggesting a time frame, it also helped people think about what is emergent and what can be scheduled, since emergency phone calls could happen at any time.
    I also schedule preaching. I have a spreadsheet that is a year long with the topics and texts of where I am going in the liturgical year. My folks know it could change from time to time, but it helps ease their anxiety around planning at the last minute as well - allowing them to pick anthems and special music well ahead of time that match the lessons we are studying.
   I write my sermons ahead of time. I am usually 6-8 weeks ahead in writing my sermons. And I write on Mondays and Tuesdays each week. The intent here is two fold. First, as I said, sometimes things happen. And if those things come up, I don't have to worry about trying to fit in writing a sermon, especially if it isn't going to be the best I can give. Writing early in the week also allows me to be truly at rest by the time my Sabbath comes on the weekends instead of constantly worrying about a sermon that still needs to be prepared.
    All too often we are our own worst enemies because we don't plan. We create unnecessary stress that builds up until it breaks out, usually in unhealthy ways. We need a plan to take care of our bodies, but we also need a plan to take care of our stress. What works well for you in terms of planning?

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