It is said that we preach on what we need to learn most. Today we are talking about margins. At seminary, Dr. Brunner talked to us about putting margins in our lives, a full day of rest and then two more sets of four hours each to do whatever our souls needed. This was fantastic advice I have not taken. For a week and a half, I had scheduled every single evening, and after one Wedndesday when I had a few hours free, there wasn't going to be another spare night for days to come. I was at my breaking point.
So what are margins? Margins are those things you don't have when someone asks you to do something and you want to cry instead. They are the space in our lives that gives us breathing room, that allows us to relax. Just like in a paper, you don't run the text to the edge of the page, you have a margin of white around the sides. Margins serve much the same purpose in our lives. You can't keep giving and giving without pulling back and allow yourself to take.
If we don't have margins in our lives, we will burn out. We can't keep saying, "When I have vacation, I'll rest then." A person does not eat every few weeks but everyday. A regular "diet" of resting is essential. This will mean different things to different people, but we all need such rest and space, things we do for ourselves alone.
Last week I took a drive out to one of my favorite places to go to when I need to breathe and don't have time to drive all the way out to the beach. I even found a new favorite walk out in the marsh I am looking forward to returning to. It's just a nice place to let my mind unwind and relax, to lose myself in God's creation. (I'll be posting some pictures from that day soon.)
Take the margins you need. You can't keep helping others when you have nothing left to give.