Like many people, the Covid-19 pandemic became a sort of apocalyptic reckoning for me. When the world shut down I was forced to examine the way I held my work - although if I’m honest I already knew on a deep level I was teetering on burnout even before everything stopped. As all our norms and rhythms of “doing church” were put on hold, I realized I needed consistent guidance from a caring presence, which led me to Justin McRoberts. It has been a relationship that has greatly benefited me three years on.

One of the first pieces of wisdom I received from my time with Justin was understanding and blessing my limitations. Historically I had wandered into a common trap for spiritual leaders - I made myself available 24/7 in case there was a crisis any given day or hour, and I subconsciously put myself at the center of every possible solution to the problems we had in our community. I was afraid of disappointing my people, not doing a good job with the responsibility I had been given. Creating boundaries and saying “no” seemed anathema to the grandeur and challenge of the vocation, especially when sized up with scriptures that said we must “always be ready” or we must “be all things to all people”. From an authentic desire to be the best pastor I could be, I was stretching myself thin while also teaching my people a lesson I never intended - we must deny our boundaries in Jesus’ name. Justin helped me to see, not only was naming and embracing my limitations as a human being a blessing for me, it was also one of the greatest lessons I could pass along to my community.