Re-engineering my rhythm

06Jun07

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During my weeklong “rest and recovery” vacation, I received the following clear word from the Lord:

Do more by doing less

As I explained here, before leaving for the vacation I was pretty much experiencing burnout. I was constantly exhausted to the point of returning home from work almost numb with tiredness. A couple of occasions I felt dizzy spells, and I pretty much hit a wall, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. I believe the Lord wants me to slow down, and in the measure that I do so, He has promised that He will increase my effectiveness, even when I am doing less.

To give you some background, I am married to a stunningly beautiful brunette (Been married to her 11 years and she is still smokin’ hot to me!) (pics), and have two little treasures in the form of two boys aged 9 and 6. These three are my top priority. Period.

I also work in full time employment in a firm where we act as property advisers to the Government of Gibraltar, and have recently been coping with major transitions in my workplace, including a promotion (Yea God!), several huge projects and a change in my role within the organization. At the same time, I am working on achieving a professional status as a member of the prestigious Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors of the United Kingdom and this entails a lot of work and reading, working up to becoming a Chartered Valuation Surveyor (Sort of like a real estate Appraiser).

I also pastor Living Waters Tabernacle, a small church that I planted in 2003. Small churches have their own set of unique issues and challenges (believe me), especially as we do not have a leadership team in place yet, so at the moment it is just me, myself, and I. I have been teaching non-stop since 2003 every Sunday (I have probably NOT shared on a Sunday just a handful of times), and I also moderate a Tuesday evening home group in Gibraltar, and a Thursday evening prayer meeting in La Linea, Spain as part of our collaborative support of the Campo 24/7 House of Prayer.

As someone said: “I have not been able to lead the church because I have been too busy just keeping it running”. Does that make sense? It is certainly true of how I have been feeling. As a result of “Do more my doing less” I am making time in my schedule to rest, pray, soak, get some exercise and generally find some kind of balance within. So I am slowing down, stopping some things, saying NO to other things and I hope to gain a healthier rhythm that will allow me to lead this great group of people for the long haul.

I am making a top priority to raise up a leadership team around me and for this I ask for your prayers for wisdom, knowledge and insight for the days ahead.

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5 Responses to “Re-engineering my rhythm”


  1. 1 Amelia Gaillard Posted June 11th, 2007 - 6:26 pm

    Bless you, John.

  2. 2 John Baw Posted June 14th, 2007 - 7:30 pm

    @Amelia: Thanks for all your encouragement :)

  3. 3 Larry Silverman Posted June 16th, 2007 - 7:18 pm

    Hi John,

    Good going on taking a vacation. We all need it from time to time. Oh, you are right… you do have a “stunning” wife. I’ve got one too, so I know what it means to make sure we keep our focus on them.

    Blessings Friend,

    Larry

  4. 4 John Baw Posted June 19th, 2007 - 10:30 am

    @Larry: Bless you Bro. Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment here :)

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  1. 1 wildoxgib.com » Who will deliver me from this body….. Pingback on Jul 18th, 2007
    "[...] of the steps that I am taking in my, “back from the brink of burnout” strategy, is that ..."

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