Clergy Killers

I have been reading a lot of articles about the stressful conditions that pastor's work under; low pay, no respect, expectations that no human could ever live up to, etc. I have decided that the thing that was killing me the most was not taking the time to care for my body. This summer started out with me giving up all soda's. I thought I was going to DIE. The chemicals in the Diet Coke's caused literal pain as my body flushed them out.



After that, I started eating healthy and logging everything I ate in "Calorie Counter" a free app on my Droid. (Did you know that one serving of Organic Blue Corn Chips is only 6 chips?? I mean, really, who only eats 6 chips?)



I had been a member of a local gym for over a year, but my attendance was sporadic and I never did any true cardio work. So when my conference began Holy Healthy through Virgin HealthMilies, I signed up and received my free pedometer. Now I am in a competition with other clergywomen and even next week it is men against women (those guys will never know what hit them). Not only am I losing weight, I am building friendships with clergy that leave on the other side of the state. I walk between 15,000-20,000 steps a day. I eat less than 1,500 calories a day.



During this long, hot summer, I have lost 28 pounds. I wake up now without the alarm clock and hit the road before dawn with the dogs. I still have a lot of weight to lose but I am over a 1/3 of the way to my goal already.



The comments from the parishioners is nice and I'm glad they are noticing. I am being intentional about it being a part of my ministry.......yes, me. They need to know that I matter too. What kind of spiritual leader am I if I ignore the body that God gave me, that has the Holy Spirit indwelling within?



I have much more to post about Clergy Killer's. I might start with office staff that are so insecure that they only feel better if they are putting someone else down.