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Burnout (part 2)

This is the follow up to Burnout (part 1).

Since I’ve been able to say NO, and set some boundaries for myself; I’ve come to love the time that I do spend at the church.  For example, because of the way that our volunteer teams are setup (at least on the production side); when you are “on”, you are pretty much giving up your entire weekend.  Which I think is a lot to ask of someone that just worked 40-60 hours that week.  Therefore, I try to limit my volunteering to one weekend a month, two weekends at the most.

There are those that might call that “selfish”.  Perhaps so… but that’s where I’m at.  I’d rather enjoy my time serving, rather than hate every minute I’m there.  After all, “God loves a joyful giver” right?  I set boundaries to keep myself in the “joyful” category.

As far as my designing goes… Graphic Design is what I do for a living.  It is the means by which I’m able to take care of my family.  So, having that in mind… occasionally, I do “give” some design work to the church.  However, most of the time, they pay me for my work.  Which benefits everyone involved.  They get better work that they value; and I get to eat.

Dirt Conference 2009.

We just wrapped up #dirt09 and it was amazing.  I’m so proud of our church, and our creative arts team at NLC for pulling it off.  For it’s first year, and NLC’s first conference, the feel and the vibe were top notch.  I got to talk to several people after the last session, and they all loved it.  Many, many highlights from the three days; but, for right now, here are a few…

• Meeting (face-to-face) many of my ‘dotcomrades’ and people that I know from the internet… Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Blankenship, Ken Wilson, and Michael Buckingham.
• Getting to meet new people and hangout with church creatives from all over the country.
• Having the opportunity to work with the great Creative Arts staff at New Life Church.  Shoutouts:  Matt Leonard, Darryl Johnson, Phil Noblit, Nathan Pruzaniec, Angie Brown, Jenna Wilson, Neil Greathouse, Brandon and Rebecca Shatswell, Katie Barber, and Matt Huber.
• Having my friends Joshua Scott and Adrian Rodriguez at my house.
• A great talk with my friend Eric Brown.
• The overall vibe.  It was one of joy.  It was refreshing.  It was honest and real.

We have things that we can improve and we will.  But for a first year conference, in a market that is already saturated with conferences, I would put it at the top of my list.

Burnout (part 1)

I used to be one of those people that said, “If you are in love with God, you can’t experience burnout.”  I’ve since realized that I was lying to others and to myself.  Nine months ago, I left a job in fulltime ministry for good reason.  At the time, I was blaming it on differences of opinion and styles of leadership.  But, the real reason is, I was just burned-out.  It was best, for myself and for the church, that I leave.  It would not have been healthy for anyone for me to stay in the position that I was in.  This is has been a realization that I’ve come to after months of being gone.  During these months, I’ve learned a lot about myself.

Right away, I jumped into another job and started “volunteering” my design abilities to a new church.  Can you say “mistake”?  At first, it was good.  Unfortunately, when you volunteer… you are free, and as it is with just about every church out there, you get abused.  I know, because I’ve been on the other side.  As a ministry leader, I was the one that loved having certain people work on Sunday mornings, because I knew I could count on them and they were good.  I was the one abusing others.

Now that I’m the volunteer … the free labor.  I’m having to protect myself from becoming the abused.  The church doesn’t mean to be abusive… but free labor is easy, it’s cheap, and it’s accessible.  Because the abused will feel like a jerk if he/she says no to the church.  I mean, that’s like saying no to God himself, right?  So, you have look out for yourself.  You have to say NO.  Even though it sucks to do so.

I’ve learned that I’m not ready to jump back into fulltime ministry yet.  When you work in fulltime ministry, your heart has to be completely soldout for that cause.  It has to be what wakes you up in the morning, and keeps you awake at night.  If it isn’t… you will be miserable.  I wish I was there… but right now, I’m not.  I have to take a look at my own priorities, and look out for my family.

There will probably be more to come on this subject.