I just have taken two days off for the Fourth of July. I seldom take two days off in a row. I do know that by the second day I was really anxious to find something worthwhile to do. Often I am told I don't really take time off. When I was told that recently I looked at the jobs I have had that supported my family and sometimes my ministries and here is what I found:
Railroad about 15 hours a day times six if the work was there. 3 years as a newly wed.
Low Pressure Boiler operator for building that encompassed a city block nearly w/o any backup except for vacations. That usually was with a weekend minimum of 1.5 hours a day, 5 days a week a minimum of 8 hours except for one week off for vacation. Did that for 4 years.
Truck Driver while serving as pastor on weekends. Minimum of Sixty hours in Five days and 72 in Six days.
Full-Time College student as well as Full-Time school janitor and serving as lead pastor in a church with three services a week and a growing congregation.
Full-Time Lead pastor of growing church and 20 hours a week minimum counseling in an addiction center.
Single Chaplain in a 120 bed hospital who took call 7/24 most days of the year. Surprisingly I had vacation time left every year. My working hours did not include the times for finishing my training and for special workshops within my specialty field required by my training. The clinical part was 1600 hours supervised training in a separate institution. It took me three years to accomplish that on the side while preaching on the weekends as a supply person.
Sometimes I wonder why I have trouble with time-off and finding some hobbies. Then I get asked the question, When you gonna retire? Good question I think I will address that next day off.
