MCD

I am SO excited!!
I have been anticipating the release of this book for well over a year now. I first heard it mentioned on his blog, which then lead me to Anne's story. The first time I read the title and found out what this book was going to be about, I was hooked. I know most of you know our story..... My husband served on staff at a large church in Florida for 12 years... I was also on staff for about 10 of those years, on and off, in several different capacities. The first few years were wonderful. We both worked there, our children went to school there, all of our friends were there, basically, all of our relationships centered around our church. Somewhere along the way, I don't even remember when, things went south. Some weeks my husband was working 50 and 60 hours a week and we joked and called those 'slow weeks'. Slowly, but surely, we began to burn out..... Our church had a number of resources for the pastors and their wives, but you see, the problem was, my husband wasn't a pastor. Those resources, no matter how wonderful they were, were not for us. It's was hard for us to know how to deal with the stress of it all. Talking about it sounded so much like complaining. And really, what are you going to say??? Do you ask if all the programs were really worth the stress it brought on the staff?? Sounds selfish, doesn't it?? Don't get me wrong, I can't and don't blame the church.... The decisions we made, were our own. We loved the people and we loved the Lord.... but we were tired, burned out, fried.

That little detour brings me back to this book. The title is MAD CHURCH DISEASE - Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic. Do you see where I'm going with all this??? I am excited that there is finally a resource out there for those of us in the ministry (or married to someone who is:) One of the lines in this book that struck me right between the eyes, was a quote by Bill Hybels. It states that he once said that "the way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in my life". Powerful stuff, huh? Rusty and I are commited to doing everything in our power to not allow that same burn out to invade our lives again. I'm sure I'll be sharing more of what I learn as I dig deeper into this book. Stay tuned!