Nibbled to Death by Ducks!
Are you letting tiny distractions kill your funding?
Maybe your funding challenges are not about fundraising but about life management skills.
If you are emotionally drained, fundraising is overwhelming! Phoning a potential donor feels like climbing Mt Everest all alone. Your heart is right, but you are out of gas. The ducks are winning!
Here are five life management skills (learned through my own painful experiences) to keep you motivated for ministry:
Avoid VPD's—very draining people. In your world today, you know one or two people who suck life out of you. Avoid them if you can, but if you can't you'll need to put up boundaries or confront the person. You know who I'm talking about!
An oasis every day, an oasis every week, an oasis every year. Do you feel like you are on duty 24/7? Jesus was busy, but Luke 5:16 shows He had time away from people:
"But Jesus himself would often slip away to the wilderness to pray."
Even in a city you can “slip away” to be alone with Christ at a corner table in a busy McDonalds.
Note the word often! I need time with Jesus every day in the bible. And I need a couple hours weekly to pray for and plan my coming week. And I need three to four days each year hiking around a real wilderness with Jesus, birds and trees. Don’t feel guilty about “slipping away.”
Keep short accounts. Hard work is tiring but not usually emotionally draining. However, even one unreconciled relationship can suck life out of us.
Acts 24:16 has the phrase: "...to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man." Don't wait to restore a relationship. Settle it before you go to bed!
Turn each difficulty over to God immediately. Phil 4:6 has the phrase "in all things by prayer.” When a problem comes, turning it to God immediately relieves us from trying to control it. Verse 7 says the “peace of God will guard your hearts and mind.” The circumstance may not change, but you’ll have peace.
Stop worrying! Is worry a sin? In Matt 6:25-34, Jesus exhorts us three times with the words, "Do not worry!" He doesn't say, "Try not to worry!" Be concerned, yes. Worry, no.
“Concern” becomes worry when I try to control the situation, usually because I am afraid. It is not a sin to be afraid, but it is a sin to live in constant fear. Worry is a symptom of fear. And fear is draining.
May these five life skills free you from nibbling ducks! Which one specifically do you need to apply right now?
