My counselor is great because he doesn’t try to fix me. Nor, does he treat me like I’m crazy because I’m grieving through my present health issues. He just listens and shares encouraging words of truth when necessary. I always leave better than I walked into his office. Even if I spend the entire hour crying my eyes out it’s still such a relief to have a safe place to share, be human, and be loved no matter what I say.

These venues are not easy to come by for most of us. In fact, for the longest time I felt like as a pastor I shouldn’t need a counselor. Then I grew wiser and realized that I might need one even more than some others. I’m often not just carrying my own cross, but in my heart the hardships of hundreds. God made one thing very clear to me at the beginning of this year. You can’t keep pouring from an empty cup. You’ve got to have others pouring into you if you hope to keep pouring into others.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17