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By Ryan Frank

Leading a ministry can be tough work. If you’re not careful, the week-to¬-week effort can become routine and exhausting. Here are ten ways to breathe easier in ministry.

1. Get the monkeys off your back. A monkey is something that hangs on your back day and night and won’t let go. Too many leaders procrastinate and in the process end up carrying around too many monkeys. Deal with problems and don’t let them weigh you down!

2. Get training. Go to a good conference targeted to children’s leaders. They are a real shot in the arm. Whether you are brand new in ministry, or you have been doing it for years, you can never get enough training.

3. Delegate. Get experienced people to help you. Look for people in your church or on your team that can step it up a notch and help you. Look for areas in your ministry that you are weak and find someone strong in that area to assist you.

4. Renew yourself spiritually. You’re like a sponge. If you give out and give out but never absorb, you will turn dry and crusty like an old sponge. You need to absorb as you give out. Place yourself under the teaching of your pastor. Listen to good Bible teachers online or on the radio. Read books. Spend time alone with God. When you absorb you have a lot more to give away.

5. Get control of your tasks; don’t let your tasks control you. Sometimes you would breathe easier if you simply got organized. Children’s workers aren’t always the most organized people. Clear those goldfish crackers off your desk and start getting organized.

6. Learn from others. Be a life-long learner. What are other teams doing? What are current trends in ministry? What new products are available that will breathe some fresh air into my ministry?

7. Be a planner. Anticipate what is coming ahead. Buy a calendar and start planning in advance.

8. Treat yourself to something special now and then. Sometimes you need to do something for yourself. Buy some new clothes. Go on that shopping trip. Take a few days off and stay at home. Take that trip. You get the idea.

9. Make much of prayer. We often grow weary in our service to the Lord because we try to do everything ourselves. The Lord wants to help you! Does your team recognize that prayer is a priority in your life? Is prayer a priority for your team? The team that prays together stays together!

10. Don’t take yourself and those around you too seriously. You’ll breathe easier in ministry if you learn to lighten up. Take time to have some fun. Learn to laugh at yourself.

Start practicing these ten pointers and you’ll find yourself breathing easier in ministry. Don’t try to tackle them all at once. Pick two that you will start working on this week. Then in a few weeks, pick two more, and so on.

Copyright 2008 Ryan Frank. All rights reserved.