{"id":2012,"date":"2012-06-01T14:52:34","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T19:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2012-06-01T14:52:34","modified_gmt":"2012-06-01T19:52:34","slug":"taking-care-of-ourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Care of Ourselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church<\/a>\u00a0in Tulsa, OK.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve been thinking a lot about vacation lately. In just a few weeks, I’ll be traveling to Irvine, CA, where I’ll be commissioned at the Annual Meeting. My wife and I have decided to turn the trip into a two-week vacation for our family. We’ll visit close friends in the San Francisco Bay area, go to Disneyland and spend precious time with her parents and extended family in Southern California. We will eat at In-N-Out Burger. We will swim in the ocean. I can’t wait.<\/p>\n

One of my best friends is starting a three-month sabbatical today. He has worked as a young adults\/community outreach\/preaching pastor for over a decade, and this is the first time he’s ever had a sabbatical. I texted him this morning, saying “It’s the first day of a well-deserved and much-needed sabbatical! Enjoy! Rest and refresh! Love your family well! Eat healthy and work out often! Read a lot and sleep a lot! And most of all, dive with abandon into the endless expanse of God’s ocean of love!”<\/p>\n

Sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? (I have to admit, I was a little jealous as I typed it…)<\/p>\n

I remember once, on a spiritual retreat in Colorado, being led in a lectio divina<\/em>\u00a0exercise. The passage I focused on was Matthew 11:28-30. I was profoundly moved as I heard the gentle words of Jesus reach across time and space and invade my heart: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Who doesn’t<\/em> need to find that kind of rest?<\/p>\n

A while back, in our Better Together<\/a> Facebook group, we were talking about recovering. From Christmas. From Easter. From whatever challenges or difficult seasons of ministry we face. Discussion turned to health and how we as pastors and leaders take care of ourselves. How do we stay sharp? How do we stay healthy? We talked about food choices and exercise, about rest, about having people to share our joys and struggles with, about time with God, about family time…<\/p>\n

So what about you? Are you a healthy leader? How do you stay healthy? How do you need to get<\/em> healthy?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church\u00a0in Tulsa, OK. I’ve been thinking a lot about vacation lately. In just a few weeks, I’ll be traveling to Irvine, CA, where I’ll be commissioned at the Annual Meeting. My wife and I have decided to turn the trip into a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTaking Care of Ourselves - Worship Connect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking Care of Ourselves - Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church\u00a0in Tulsa, OK. I’ve been thinking a lot about vacation lately. In just a few weeks, I’ll be traveling to Irvine, CA, where I’ll be commissioned at the Annual Meeting. My wife and I have decided to turn the trip into a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-01T19:52:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2012\/06\/SabbaticalScapes-Rhodes-Greece-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matt\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee80b5ead0b38121891731eeca726a80\"},\"headline\":\"Taking Care of Ourselves\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-01T19:52:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":5,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/\",\"name\":\"Taking Care of Ourselves - Worship Connect\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-01T19:52:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee80b5ead0b38121891731eeca726a80\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/taking-care-of-ourselves\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Taking Care of Ourselves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/\",\"name\":\"Worship Connect\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee80b5ead0b38121891731eeca726a80\",\"name\":\"Matt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/09d1d32a805f4d966c4eac0ce11548f83258a12781cd854c4c875ceb9b258d38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/09d1d32a805f4d966c4eac0ce11548f83258a12781cd854c4c875ceb9b258d38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/09d1d32a805f4d966c4eac0ce11548f83258a12781cd854c4c875ceb9b258d38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matt\"},\"description\":\"Husband, father, pastor, leader, learner, watcher, reader, writer, thinker, social media enthusiast, runner. Follower of Jesus.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/mattnightingale\"],\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/author\\\/mattn\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking Care of Ourselves - Worship Connect","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking Care of Ourselves - Worship Connect","og_description":"Today\u2019s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at\u00a0Redeemer Covenant Church\u00a0in Tulsa, OK. I’ve been thinking a lot about vacation lately. In just a few weeks, I’ll be traveling to Irvine, CA, where I’ll be commissioned at the Annual Meeting. My wife and I have decided to turn the trip into a […]","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/","og_site_name":"Worship Connect","article_published_time":"2012-06-01T19:52:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2012\/06\/SabbaticalScapes-Rhodes-Greece-300x199.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Matt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/"},"author":{"name":"Matt","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#\/schema\/person\/ee80b5ead0b38121891731eeca726a80"},"headline":"Taking Care of Ourselves","datePublished":"2012-06-01T19:52:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/"},"wordCount":431,"commentCount":5,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/","name":"Taking Care of Ourselves - Worship Connect","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-01T19:52:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#\/schema\/person\/ee80b5ead0b38121891731eeca726a80"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/06\/taking-care-of-ourselves\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking Care of Ourselves"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/","name":"Worship Connect","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#\/schema\/person\/ee80b5ead0b38121891731eeca726a80","name":"Matt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09d1d32a805f4d966c4eac0ce11548f83258a12781cd854c4c875ceb9b258d38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09d1d32a805f4d966c4eac0ce11548f83258a12781cd854c4c875ceb9b258d38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09d1d32a805f4d966c4eac0ce11548f83258a12781cd854c4c875ceb9b258d38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Matt"},"description":"Husband, father, pastor, leader, learner, watcher, reader, writer, thinker, social media enthusiast, runner. Follower of Jesus.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mattnightingale"],"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/author\/mattn\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2020,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions\/2020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}