Ministry First?

Well, if you happen to keep track (and I'm not necessarily assuming you do) of when my newsletters are sent out, you might have noticed that I failed to send one out last week. One of those weeks, you know? At first, I felt sort of guilty that so many other priorities fell before what I would consider as my ministry at this point in my life. Time with my wife and daughter, the birth of my niece, etc...all fell before my ministry at "Running With Wings" this week. Yeah, I felt a little guilty.

But, it got me to thinking a bit about why I would feel guilty for such a thing. After all, doesn't the Lord consider my family my first and foremost ministry in my life? Yes. Isn't a husband and a father supposed to put these things first? Of course. So, after the slight guilt subsided, I'm here to encourage those of you who are in search of a personal calling and ministry, to be sure to always remind yourself that your primary ministry in this world is to love those around you, to protect your family, and never to compromise these things...ever.

This isn't to say that there aren't times in your life where you need to come out of balance to re-create balance, but I just want to encourage the men and women of this world to recognize the daily ministry of loving those around you before you create something for yourself that could end of trumping what God has blatantly placed at your feet.