Every three weeks, I talk to my ministry expert. She’s a church consultant and licensed therapist, and she coaches me in being a good minister. We talked today, and I told her I was feeling a little stressed.

She got right down to brass tacks: “Which days do you work? How long do you work on Sunday? How many hours on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday? –does that include evening meetings? How long does it take to write your sermons on Thursday? Do you always take Fridays off as you’re supposed to?”

I answered. She added up the hours. “You’re working too many hours a week. And what happens if there’s a pastoral crisis? –if you have a funeral, that’s another ten hours that week, at least.” Conclusion: I need to cut ten hours a week out of my schedule. We talked about how I would do that, and as we did I could feel stress oozing out of me.

She then grilled me about my exercise habits. I’m doing all right, but I need more. My new goal is to spend one full day a month outdoors. Next time, she will probably grill me on my lousy eating habits.

My ministry expert reminds me that if you die from stress, you can’t be a good minister any more. So she tells me: “Don’t overwork, spend time with your family, get exercise, eat right.”

Come to think of it, that’s pretty good advice for anyone.