Rest in the Storm: Self-Care Strategies for Clergy and Other Caregivers

This title was recommended to me by a friend, and am glad as a pastor I read it. The author is right on target with his remarks aimed at over-worked ministers who struggle with finding energy to meet all the demands placed upon them. Jones is emphatic about clergy needing to have intentional, regular periods of rest and renewal. Drawing heavily upon the analogy of Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat during a storm, he insists that as disciples of Jesus we too need to find our way often to the back of the "boat." This book is a great investment -- it's well worth the money and time spent!

Dr. Jones has given professional caregivers permission to take the personal rest needed in order to help others find renewal and healing. He offers wisdom from personal experience combined with practical tools that offers relief from relational and institutional responsibilities. "Rest in the Storm" is a book that should become a requirement in seminaries and other universities that train people to be professional caregivers.

Dr. Jones offers wisdom from personal experience combined in a book that is both practical and clear. The strategies for finding daily rest from professional caregiving is the key to avoiding burnout. He offers the spiritual, physical and emotional tools needed to rest while being present to the demands of relational and institutional responsibilities. "Rest in the Storm" is sure to be a requirement in seminaries and universities who are training professionals to care for others. It is a book that will keep professionals healthy and happy in their lives and work.

Kirk's book has been a refreshing breeze of support, in the midst of a hot, busy summer. His words, images, and sharing of his own personal journey and struggles have so affirmed my own experiences. I recently have put down deep roots in practicing self-care. But this is an issue I will always be managing in my life. I will return to Kirk's book many times in the months ahead.

Rest in the Storm is a great reminder that I need to hug, hold, embrace my Self. The need to relax is something we all feel. The reason to relax is something, I think, many of us miss. Some of us don't relax at all. There are others of us, (myself included) who do relaxing things and then feel guilty for taking the time. This book gives reasons for relaxing. It tells me that it is alright, indeed sanctified to acknowledge this need for respite. And then, it is healing to satisfy this fundamental need. I am not presented with what to do to put back, but why it is necessary that I replenish the well-spring from which I draw to give to others, my students in particular.Kirk's book is full of simply profound observations, presented through a rhetoric that is clever and clear, pointed and yet not burdensome. With some introspection, I saw the truths of the message in my life. I get the message.One observation that captured me is that planning respite time makes you more appreciative of the surprise relaxed times. Another observation is that we deny our Selves any value in life. Therefore we do not embrace in our Selves, our worth. Kirk reminds me that I have an obligation to me. And that obligation is a pleasurable task to fulfill. Take time to joy in life! Take time to appreciate me. Make time to hang up my porductivity hat. Embracing relaxation returns joy to productivity.I would recommend this book to anyone who is drained from giving of him/herself, not replenishing or not recognizing that it is not a sign of inferior being to need rest.