The Gift of a Slower Season
by Amy Diller

Congratulations! You survived another Christmas in children’s ministry. You decorated and made things look festive, prepped glittery crafts, created Advent activities, hosted parties, put on a Christmas program, and picked out volunteer gifts, not to mention your own activities with family and friends. Phew! Even though Christmas is a beautiful celebration of our Savior’s birth and a lovely time of the year, it can still be exhausting for church leaders.

When we’re too busy, as we often are during the holidays, taking care of ourselves falls to the wayside. We tend to grin and bear it in order to meet all the expectations we and others place on us during packed-full ministry seasons. Thankfully, the new year comes, offering the gift of a slower pace and time to rest. Take the opportunity now to reflect on self-care and to establish a healthier pattern of life before the next hectic season comes.

One thing to do right now is to be certain you’re making regular time to spend with the Lord. When we’re exhausted, we can miss out on the life-giving wonder of God’s Word. We know this. We encourage others to make time to focus on Jesus. However, we’re not always as good at connecting with the Lord during hectic seasons as we are during slower times of the year. The best way to make sure you’re nurturing your relationship with the Lord is to schedule it instead of putting it off. Pick a place and time that makes it easier for you to shut out the demands of the day and rest in His presence. Attend to your spiritual health in the stillness of January so that when busy times come, it’s already a part of your life you depend on every day.

We also need to care for our physical needs. During times of busyness, this area of our lives often gets neglected. Unless we’re intentional about it, we get less sleep, less exercise, and eat less healthy food. It’s easy to skimp in this area and mistakenly think it’ll create more time for us to get things done. But a lack in any one of these activities actually makes our day-to-day and extra responsibilities more difficult to perform. Physical wellness reduces stress, helps to balance emotions, and is beneficial mentally as well. Next to spiritual health, our physical health also needs a place of priority.

Sometimes, a crazy pace leads to doing everything ourselves so we can feel like we’re maintaining some semblance of control over the chaos. This is an unhealthy approach to ministry that can lead to burnout. Stop for a moment and consider the things you need to get done. List those that are most important, moderately important, and least important. Organize your schedule around doing the most important things first instead of getting caught up in all the minutia. Look over the prioritized list and designate what only you can do, what someone can help you with, and what others can do on their own. Our friends and volunteers are often happy to lend a hand and are just as good (or better) at completing certain tasks than we are. Let them be a blessing to you and the children and parents in your ministry.

While it’s easy to overdo it with church activities, use this time after the holidays to think about slowing down for the benefit of the families you serve. If the calendar is filled with too many programs, it can place pressure on families to participate in everything offered. Evaluate how much of a time commitment extra events require of families and yourself. Resist over-programming. The goal should be to present meaningful experiences for families in ways that don’t take away from their time together at home. Remember, Fridays and Saturdays are limited commodities for families. Think outside the box. Consider offering a special event during regular service times. Invite parents to attend and participate with their children. 

Look at the events you do every year and determine the why. If the only reason is “because we’ve always done it this way,” you might think about setting a few of those activities aside. There are lots of things that are good, but a careful examination will reveal what’s best. Put your willingness to work hard toward doing very meaningful things. (Please note: If your church leadership has given you no wiggle room in children’s ministry expectations, you may not be able to change things. When this is the case, do what you can within the boundaries you’ve been given to help ease the demands on families, kids, and you.)

The gift of the quietness January brings gives us time to rest and reflect. It helps us reestablish a healthier rhythm of life. Getting in the habit of taking care of our own needs is important not only personally but in ministry. Self-care is a necessity so that we can establish balance in all areas of our lives and be more effective in leading children and parents. Embrace this slower season and use it to plan wisely. Most of all, enjoy it. You’ve more than earned the time of rest.