When I was a Junior High Pastor several years ago, every July we did something a little different than our normal routine.
For many years our Junior High service took place twice on Sunday mornings, running at the same time as the main service. I had an amazing group of energetic and quirky 11-14 years olds that I got to pour in to. A group of teenagers that served as Junior leaders and led worship. And an amazing group of adults who helped in the implementation of service from planning to teaching to joining in on the random games of sanctuary wide dodgeball.
I enjoyed leading this group all year but one of our most important components was the break we took each July. I called this time, “Pause for Effect”. Many of you have heard this term before when it comes to speaking, but if I were to explain it further, I would say:
Pause.
Chill.
Take a break from the hustle and hurry.
Replenish what you have poured out.
Allow yourself the room to receive and therefore, be more effective in the next season.
Not only did I pause services and have the kids join their parents in the main sanctuary, but I encouraged my leaders to take a break and assess where they were.
I told them this was a good time to decide if their season in Junior High was ending. If it was, the Pause for Effect timing was a safe and celebratory off-ramp. But if after this month off they felt they wanted to continue serving, I knew that I had leaders that were passionate and engaged for the rest of the year.
Rest matters. Our pause matters.
We can’t be vessels that continue to pour out without being poured into. Everything we receive is not always meant to be shared. Sometimes it’s just for us to savor. The presence of the Lord that brings life to our bones. Water from a well that never runs dry, even when we do.
It seems strange for this to apply to what we do online. But after a year of zoom meetings, blogs, posts and all the things in between, the online life has become a big part of what some of us do. So we need to rest and detox from this place too.
I want what I release here to be just as effective and authentic as I aimed to be smiling at the adolescent faces of the ones I taught all those years ago.
So this is dedicated to those Junior High ministry days. All the beautiful and challenging things I learned as a single twenty-something year old in full-time ministry. There may not be illustrated messages, lock-ins and dodgeball games in the middle of service.
But there is me. And most importantly, the God that is always ready and available to fill me, overflowing.
“See” you in August.
—Jenny
P.S. For those of you that connect with Milk & Honey Books, although milkandhoneybooks.com will still forward, its new home is now on www.jennyerlingsson.com/milkandhoneybookshome.
