We've all got one. A bucket. It's kind of invisible. But it's there. Mine seems to be continually emptied or filled ...depending on my day. Or week. Or month. Phases of life swing like a yoyo for me, it seems. But I've noticed something. Along with this bucket, we also have a ladle. I can use my ladle to dip from another person's bucket. Or I can use it to pour myself into others. And the funny thing is that the more I give, the more full my bucket becomes!
But it's true, too, that I've been dry ...I've felt like I poured and poured and poured so much that I ran out. I was burned out. Spent. And I wasn't really sure why. I believed my own lie that "I gave too much energy to this person or to that organization. I have nothing left to give." And I let it depress me. But today it dawned on me that those swings were a symptom of my becoming off-center. For a couple years, I called this "out of balance". Perhaps a better way of understanding this is to picture a top.
Keeping centered in my relationship with God and my understanding of Him and my role in His world is key. In my June 29th post of last year, I was figuring out this whole "keeping centered" thing. I really like the picture of the three rings. (07.29.2010)
Keeping centered. And pouring into others. In so doing, my bucket remains full. My sermon to myself for the day.
