Called to Ministry - Part 2

Yesterday, I wrote about about my call to ministry. Today I want to focus on some of the things I try to remind myself of when things are going well. Right now, in my current situation, things are going really well in ministry. We've seen tremendous growth in our children's and student ministries. So much so, that we are transitioning our children's ministry to two services.

So here are a few things that I try to remind myself of when things are going good:

1. Stay Humble - Too often with a calling when things are going well, we often default to puffing out our chest and saying "Look what I'm doing." But instead it's time like this that it's important to remember where my calling came from in the first place...from God, not me.
2. Stay in the Word - For me, I don't know about you, when things are going well, it's often accompanied by a lot of busy work as well. Things are moving fast. New systems are needing to be put into place. New volunteers to recruit and train. Stuff to buy. Kids to meet with. In all of that busyness if I don't stay in the Word, I'll get a rude awakening quicker than I'd like.
3. Keep Learning - Keep reading blogs. Keep reading books. Keep reading articles and listening to podcasts. Keep learning. When things are going great, they can always be going better. We can always learn from someone a new way to lead our team. We can always tweak our teaching to get a little better. We can always be encouraged or inspired by what God is doing in other places.

Those are just a few of the things that I'm trying to keep myself grounded with during this season. I'd love to hear your additions or subtractions to the list. Tomorrow, I'll touch on the things I want to remind myself of now, for when things don't go well down the road.