WEDNESDAY

Psalm 30:6-7

• Who are some people in your life who help you not be shaken in your faith?

I was new in my ministry. A church member wanted to meet for lunch. We crowded around a tiny table in a busy diner and ordered. For the next hour, I got an earful of everything I was doing wrong. Things “the other moms are saying,” things that I’d done intentionally or accidentally, the list was long and brutal. I squinted to sequester the tears and tried my best to listen.

Slamming my car door shut, I leaned back into the driver’s seat and sat for probably ten minutes— eyes closed, breathing deep, and air conditioner blasting. I was shaken. If this is what pastoring is, I thought, I don’t know if I want to do it.

I decided to call my friend Nate, a chaplain in the area whom I worked with frequently on various projects and events. He was warm, relatable, and easy to talk to. I called him and told him what happened. “Am I being too sensitive? Is this a normal thing for youth pastors to experience?” I asked. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I remember feeling like a small corner of the wound started to heal by the end of the phone call.

We all need anchors like Nate. People who buoy us when we feel like we’re sinking into the chaos. Who are your anchors? Reach out to one today.