Thoughts from my head

This past semester has been the busiest semester I have had on staff with Campus Outreach. There are so many students I need to meet with consistently to study the bible, pray, share Christ with, or just to talk about life and be friends. On top of these relationships I have all the planning for our summer in South Africa. There is a constant temptation due to my busyness to neglect the two most important things in my life; My relationship with God and my relationship with Cat. God has reminded me lately that these two relationships are the center of my being. When they are misaligned, I am not effective in my job and my relationships with students and fellow staff suffers. Let me explain it this way. While in South Africa this summer, what will determine the success of our Cross Cultural Project? It begins with my relationship with God. If I am not meeting deeply and consistently with the Lord, then how can I provide direction, leadership, and training to my staff team and students? If I was not investing in my own relationship with the Lord, then how can I help others invest in their own relationship with Christ? I would be giving out of my self, instead of giving out of Christ formed in me. In Acts 4 Peter and John are defending themselves before a religious council and answer the council, "For we cannot help speaking of what we have seen and heard." They had been with Jesus. They had seen him and heard him. They sat under his teaching, they saw him die, then they saw him raised to life. They were witnesses of this fact and they could not stop talking about it because they had been with Jesus. I think this is the same principle, when I am with Christ in prayer and bible study, I cannot stop speaking about what I have seen and heard, but when I neglect this for the sake of making time in my schedule, I effectively dull myself so that I am no longer as sharp and effective. This relationship is central to my ability to effectively manage other staff and students. This relationship also enables me to be a better husband for Cat. The second relationship that is central to my being is Cat and I's marriage. Again, I ask, "What will make this summer successful for our staff and students?" I believe it is healthy Christ-centered relationships. In order to live with 18 people in one house for 2 months, there must be healthy relationships, mature problem solving, character, and love. This begins as Cat and I model this for our students. It begins with the interactions of our staff team. From these relationships flow healthy interaction among our entire team.
It is strange that though these two relationships are the most central to my being and to being successful in ministry. These are the very two things that are often neglected by people for the sake of having more time in ministry. I do not want to fall into that trap, so the past few weeks I have been trying to make concerted efforts to invest well into these relationships. To guard these times for my own benefit and for the benefit of others around me. Please pray that I could continue to pursue the Lord and delight in him above all things. I love Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act." Please pray that Cat and I would continue to delight in the Lord and trust him with our lives as we seek to commit ourselves to him.