If I Had It To Do Over

While many men have preached much longer than I have, the following advice that I would like to share is not without any merit. I do have some experience, having preached full-time for the past 34 years.
If I had the ability to go back in time, the “older me” would have quite a bit of advice to share with the “younger me.” If I had it all to do over again, I’d still be a preacher, but I’d be a much wiser preacher.
Allow me to share a few recommendations I’d share with my “younger self” and with any other young preacher.
I would pray more and worry less. Worry has “gifted” me with many sleepless nights. Furthermore, the things that I have worried about, have rarely come to pass. My worries and fears have robbed me of joy and peace I could have experienced. The longer I have lived, the more I have come to trust in the power of prayer and his providence over my life.
I would praise more and complain less. It’s the classic “glass half-full or half-empty” scenario. Church work can be so frustrating when you want something for a person more than he wants it for himself. But for every frustration, there are multiplied reasons to give thanks and be encouraged.
I would work less and “recreate” more. While my work has taken my family and me to Alaska, California, Florida, and many points in-between, I was always “on the job” in some way or another. Rarely did our family ever “get away” for any period of time without strings attached. That’s not encouragement to avoid work, but rather it is a call for better balance.
I would be both less and more confrontational. I would be less confrontational with people who try to create and revel in conflict. I would learn restraint and simply allow my character be my defense when unjustly attacked. On the other hand, I would follow the advice of Jesus more closely (Matthew 18:15-17) and go directly to people and resolve our problems rather than allowing them to fester.
I would open my eyes to opportunities. I would concern myself less with what others thought, and pursue what was biblical and expedient. I would want to become more like Paul who became all things to all men that by all means, he might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Bonus: I would tell my younger self to rethink the decision to film myself opening all my Christmas presents early and wrapping them back up, then presenting Kim with that VHS recording as one of her Christmas gifts. (I was trying to break her from her habit of “peeking.” However, regardless of what I was trying to do, I learned there has to have been a better way).