I am writing a series of 8 or more blog posts that will highlight my journey as a young ministry leader along with some of the challenges I have experienced. I will highlight some ideas like being “out of balance”, priorities, and being the first to step out into new areas of innovation. I have faced many challenges in these formative years and learned how to re-prioritize some of the most important areas of my life as a man of faith, husband, father, and ministry leader. Thank you for following along with me on this journey…
I stepped into the role of President/CEO of a faith-based, non-profit in 2015 at the young age of 34. I had about six years of experience learning how to live a godly life and become an organizational ministry leader. I was the type that was an extremely early riser for a few years. I would wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning and be in the office by 5:30 or 6:00am and would stay in the office later than most. During this time I thought it was the right thing to do and during that time it probably was needed. In addition to this, I was neck deep in a Master’s degree program at a local seminary which took whatever time I had left from my schedule. I noticed that I wasn’t able to keep up with key components of my life. Things like quality time with my young family, my personal devotional life, and even being able to keep up with strategic priorities at work seemed to be more difficult. I thought that staying busy was equal to being productive.
One thing I will probably quote on a regular basis during this short series is that, “I only knew what I knew, until I knew better.” I stayed this way for about a year and a half and knew something needed to change or I simply was not going to make it. I started to ask myself a lot of questions and knew I needed to change my priorities. Another thing I often say is, “we do what we prioritize.” However, I was not doing a good job of prioritizing the “right” things. The following series will highlight my journey as a young leader and some of the changes I eventually made to put me in a more healthy position.
I want to ask… have you have dealt with this same type of challenge in your life? I’d love to hear from you.