After Church Nap!

June 27, 2011

I like naps. I could nap all the time for long periods of time. Sometimes in the middle of the night I will nap for 6-8 hours straight. Those are good nights. Also, after church, I really like to nap. Even today, I didn’t preach and I was still exhausted (which is why there is no podcast).

By the time Sunday is over, I have expended all the energy I have and all the energy God has given me. I have given my sermon as an offering of worship to God. I have shaken hands, laughed, and cried, with all those who enter and exit the church and now I am simply burned out.

So I tuck my kids in for a nap and shortly after I collapse on the couch and sleep until the kids wake up.

This is part of caring for my own soul, if I continue to push myself on Sundays without a nap slowly I will grow to hate Sundays or I will start to hold back my energy on Sundays.

Both of which are insults to the congregation and to the God who gave me this calling.

When a pastor refuses to take care of their own soul after an emotionally draining Sunday they either create ways to not be emotionally drained or they become bitter that they are so drained. I believe that this emotional draining is an after effect of the Holy Spirit which means it should be welcomed and cared for not avoided and hated. So I nap to recover….

Do you take naps on Sundays? Why or why not? What do you, as a pastor, do to recover from Sunday mornings? If you do nothing, why?

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