Look at this face. So sweet. So innocent. So…yeah, keep reading.

A few years ago, I got caught in a vicious Longaberger basket cycle. It started so innocently: I was invited to a party, so I went.

I know, I know. But I was so young. I didn’t know how these things work.

So I went to the party, even though I was pretty sure all the products would be lovely, but too expensive for me.

Sure enough, I was right. So I did the logical thing – I bought the cheapest thing in the catalog and then scheduled a party of my own, to help the host get more basket points.

Of course, I didn’t realize that I’d have to order a basket at my own party. Or that one of my guests would schedule a party to help me get more basket points. And then invite me to said party. At which I’d have to order another basket.

And that’s the fascinating story of how I ended up with several lovely, warm brown woven storage containers. And while they aren’t necessarily being used to beautifully decorate my home, they have been helpful for holding stuff.

One of my pricey baskets, however, is no longer doing its job. My napkin basket (also known as a large recipe basket) was just the perfect size. It held my napkins so nicely and was actually being used in a semi-domestic sort of way in my kitchen.

But Mark had to throw away my napkin basket. Because my cat peed on it.

Does anybody want a cat?

In the words of Mrs. Julia Sugarbaker, “This is the South. And we’re proud of our crazy people. We don’t hide them up in the attic; we bring them right down to the living room and show them off. No one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family; they just ask which side they’re on.”

And how was your weekend?

At my belated birthday party, my aunt and cousin gave me a gift card to Border’s. I decided to use it to buy two books: one I’d been hearing a lot about in the ol’ blogosphere, and one my friend, Katie, had e-mailed me to say that I must read.

Katie’s recommendation was a book by Mark Batterson called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. The other was Anne Jackson’s Mad Church Disease. I pretty much started reading Anne’s book the minute the package arrived at my house and didn’t put it down until I finished. (Okay, to be honest, there may have been a couple breaks for things like sleeping and working. But you get my point.)

Anne Jackson works at Cross Point Church in Nashville. She’s an advocate for Compassion International, and her blog is huge. (However, you may remember that I mentioned a couple weeks ago that she’s doing an online fast during Lent.)

Mad Church Disease is a book about avoiding or overcoming burnout in ministry. Anne has personally seen a lot of hurt in ministries, and she has experienced a serious, physical and emotional burnout herself.

Rather than just preach at the reader and give platitudes about not getting stressed out and learning to relax, Anne structured her message as a workbook, with probing questions to assess where the reader is and where he or she needs help. In addition, she doesn’t just rely on her own experience, though it is vast, especially for someone no older than me. Instead, she concludes each chapter with testimonies and insight from leading pastors and their family members.

In addition, the book itself – the physical ink and paper – is fantastic. The cover is a collage of notes from people all around the world who have shared their stories of burnout. The layout and typography of the book is edgy and appealing, making an already interesting book even more attention-catching and attention-keeping.

Overall, I found this book to be a great resource for anyone in ministry. And by “in ministry,” I don’t necessarily mean only the guy in the suit behind the pulpit. Anne grew up as a pastor’s kid, and she experienced great hurt during those years. So she doesn’t restrict her message just to the people receiving the paycheck or the recognition; she addresses the family members who support and love those serving as well.

And I would go so far as to say that volunteers can suffer the kind of burnout Anne discusses, as can professionals in other non-ministry industries. Personally, I’ve experienced serious burnout working in a non-profit (but not religious) organization, and I’ve been badly hurt working (on a volunteer basis) for a ministry. So, I believe there are a lot of people out there who could benefit from Anne’s message.

Certainly, there were parts of the book that didn’t apply to me. And honestly, as I neared the back half of the book, I started skimming a bit, thinking, “Not for me, not for me, not for – oh!”

It was Chapter 11 that got me – the chapter about processing through the pain. She shares the experience that hurt her the most, and then goes on to talk about handling those kinds of hurt with integrity, forgiving people who hurt you (whether they ask for it or not, whether they deserve it or not), and learning to trust again.

That chapter hit home. I can’t say that I handled either of my situations with the highest level of integrity, though I tried. And while I’ve finally managed to forgive the people involved in my working situation, it would not be honest of me to say that I’ve completely forgiven those in my ministry situation. And learning to trust? Well, that’s a whole other blog post in itself!

If you work in ministry, paid or unpaid, or if you hope to be highly involved in ministry in the future, I recommend this book. Perhaps for you it will be preventive medicine. Or maybe, if you’ve experienced some of the hurt that Anne and I have, it’s just what the doctor ordered. Either way, I give this one two thumbs up.

Do you read Tam’s blog, inProgress? It’s more of a community than just a place for someone to dump her thoughts. Although, her thoughts range from hilarious to perplexing to inspirational to thought-provoking.

Today, Tam and I are blog swapping. She’s here to tell us a little about giving up on perfect, and I’m over at her place talking about being a work in progress. Welcome, Tam.

…Not easy to do. Especially when perfection becomes a survival skill.

When I was in elementary school my mother met a man who’d eventually help in giving me 2 younger sisters :) He also helped in forming some of the worst habits of my life. One being…a clean freak!

You see, my mom’s boyfriend was an abuser. He enjoyed all types of abuse. My older brother and I got to experience them all. But the one that had the biggest impact on me was the physical abuse.

If he found me sitting, I would get a beating. Wouldn’t matter if I had just vacuumed and was simply resting. A beating would follow.

So, I learned to stay busy. There was always something to straighten, organize, dust, fluff, pick up, wash, whatever…I would find something to do.

One of the chores I gave myself was keeping the faucets spic-n-span shiny! I quickly learned there was always chrome to keep spiffy. Handwashing, toothbrushing and cooking all caused water spots and grime. And keeping every faucet in the house sparkling became my safety net.

Fast-forward 15 years, I’m married and getting uptight day after day because I couldn’t keep my faucets shiny. I’d walk into the bathroom, notice toothpaste splatter and nearly have an anxiety attack. I’d check them throughout the day like my life depended on it.

I created a habit of keeping myself consistently busy so that I wouldn’t get in trouble for not doing anything. And I had no idea that that’s what I had done. Until one day I realized that I instantly became exhausted as soon as I entered another persons home. I mean, almost comatose. To the point where I wasn’t even watching my own children or engaging in conversation.

You see, as a kiddo, going to another home was a break for me. He wouldn’t hurt me there. I didn’t have to perform. I didn’t have to be perfect. I could just…be. And often times, that meant rest. Rest I so desperately needed.

I conditioned and trained myself to perform in a way that would protect me. But I didn’t require this survival technique anymore. I was safe. Not only with my husband, but with God. I had found my refuge. The mean man had no power over me any longer.

This revelation was lifesaving. Freeing.

Perfection was no longer needed. Not when love stepped in.

Tam is a wife of 1, mom of 2 and friend to many. Laughing at herself is a daily occurence. ‘Cause, well, she ain’t right. Visit Tam at inProgress and follow her on Twitter.