I was talking to one of my good friends tonight who was overwhelmed. Comepletely overcome with a new schedule, the new school year, some big shifts in life and ministry and was already dangeroulsy close to burnout. As we comiserated together a little bit, I said, “You’ve got to stop the stress before it stops you!”

And while I realize the cheese factor is high in a pithy statement like that – it makes some sense, doesn’t it? You’ve got to figure it out quick, because stress is a ticking time bomb that will eventually take you out altogether. Consider your options:

Ruthessly prioritize your life. Start to say no. Undo some of the “yeses” you’ve already made that you now have to embarsisingly back out of. Cut things. Ask people to help share the load. Endgame: you had to make some tough calls, but you’ll be around for the long haul and a whole lot healthier, too.
OR
Continue doing the same. Hope you can survive the season. Continue to place stress on your family, your health and your ministry. Watch it fall apart. Glue it back together again. Endgame: you burn out and leave ministry for a season and/or permanently. Youth ministry loses another good youth worker to the chaos of ministry stress. 

Stop the stress before it stops you!

JG