14 Quick Reminders For Your Soul (I Tried to Write A Clickbait Title)
I like to journal. This is not a picture of me journalling. This is a Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash
After the year that 2020 was, at the beginning of 2021, I decided to have a couple of days away to “retreat” if you will, to decompress, reflect and get ready for the year ahead. I travelled to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat in the Gold Coast Hinterland and holed myself up in a little studio apartment and wrote, slept and read.
Whilst flicking through the pages of my journal this afternoon, I came across 14 reflections and affirmations that I listed down during those few days that I found to be a great reminder today - and maybe you will too!
In this season of my life, I work between the church and real estate, so whilst some of this is ministry-specific, I trust that these truths will resonate with you too. I do not claim to be the author of most of them, but I can confirm I find all of these to be true.
6th January 2021
O’Reilly’s - A Studio Cabin
7:44 PM
”…Thank God for love, grace and mercy. The more I examine vocational ministry and the weight of it, the more I’m convinced of these few things:
An honest appraisal of yourself before the Lord and how you relate to Him.
Take God, and what you do seriously, but don’t take yourself and treat everything in your life so seriously.
Your friends are SO important: do not neglect your friendships.
Maintaining facades is the cause of a lot of drama that you don’t need.
Make rest a priority (but not an excuse).
Have people you can be completely honest with without fear of judgment: sometimes these people are outside of ministry.
As Eugene Peterson says, treat the people you serve with dignity.
As Dad says, as best possible, know your people - relate with them.
NEVER be too “big” to serve.
Do things from time-to-time that you think are “beneath” you: it’s good for your soul.
Know what and who refreshes you.
Be intentional about mixing with people who are not like you and hear out ideas that you do not like.
Don’t be attached to a job title; be pursuant of your calling.
As Malcolm Turnbull says, “respect everybody, but defer to nobody.”
I’m sure I could expound on some of these points, but I think most of them speak for themselves. If you’d like me to provide more context or want to share your thoughts on these, send me an email or drop me a comment in this blog or on social media!