Jones' book Rest in the Storm truly grabbed my attention. I have a personal bad habit of self-sacrificing myself without balance. It is a tendency that leads me to 'work-aholism.' Jones gave me strong reminders and reasons to turn that focus back toward myself, without the sense that I should feel selfish for doing so. Rather, to enhance the sense of "sacred space" to develop my relationship with God so that I have a better version of myself to devote to others within ministry. This quote gives me a solid reminder that if I am to value others on the premise that God loves them, I should also consider the same for myself. Jones has many more words of wisdom that build upon that concept, including mentioning that we become more effective leaders by acknowledging our own person-hood via self-care, or time at the "back of the boat."
“The basic conviction is that we can see all the real variables shaping a people in a specific place and time, that power allows us to create our preferred futures. ...It neglects the reality that the real shaping of a community of people comes from the thousands and millions of small, supposedly insignificant interactions we can never see or incorporate into our data and plans.” (Roxburgh, 63)
I believe the working world in which we live places high value on demonstrating progress through metered, measured, objective values. Roxburgh identifies the difficult challenge that lies ahead to bring greater awareness to some of the most meaningful, non-objectified aspects of leading in ministry. One method to shift could be sharing stories, which identifies rich moments of interactions and experiences between people that cannot be itemized, measured, or entirely objectified.