I looked at the pile of papers covering my desk and started to cry. Gloria's dementia. Gloria's taxes, bills, deposits and correspondence. Our taxes. My mom's taxes. Volunteer treasurer job: bills, donations, tax forms for non profits. A pile to sort before we move. Get ready for Bible study tonight. Clean the house. Do the BSF Lesson.
How did I ever do this before I retired? Get rid of more stuff. I walk away, sit and cry. The purring cat flings herself into my lap. I read my email on the phone. A familiar verse from the Message, and the phrase, "disconnect, revitalize, rest". Yup. Burned out? Yup. Can a nap fix this? A little.
I need a Savior to resurrect the dying and the dead in me. Can He? Of course. Will He? If I make time for Him. Will I? Or will the call of the pile on my desk turn my resolve to seek Him into the depths of despair?
No. I will turn from the screaming pile to my Lord, my King, the One who knows what it takes to restore me. Yes a nap. Tomorrow is another day. I love You Jesus, thank You for seeing where I am and providing the break I need.
Help me be the friend, wife and woman You have called me to be. A woman who will yoke herself to You and learn from You the unforced rhythms of grace. I feel better already. Thank You Lord!
Barb
God loves you so much!
On Jan 27, 2016, at 2:59 PM, Peninsula Covenant Church wrote:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
Good Afternoon, PCC!
(Note: The following Gmail is adapted from a blog entry entitled: Daily Mentoring with Darren Hardy.)
I’m doing it and I want you to join me! I’m aiming for 100 Disconnected Days in 2016: To disconnect myself from all communications (email, phone calls, texts and social media) for a 24 hour period of time (sometimes 2-days straight or 48 hours!) so that I could focus on head down, undisturbed, creative production, or rest and recovery, or relationships that matter most to me. To be clear, here is how a disconnected day is defined: A day focused on creative production or rest and recovery off the digital communication grid.
Why do I need to achieve this goal? Because of this one problem: I am easily seduced. It seems I am weak. Everyday I set out to be disciplined. Everyday I promise I will not stray. Everyday I swear I will stay focused. But everyday somehow the siren’s song of email, texts, phone calls and social media always hinder me. I submit. I give in. I bite the apple. And once again the grand intentions of my day are squandered in the vortex of reacting to the solicitations of other people’s agendas.
But when I create a “Disconnected Day” for myself, a day to disconnect from The Matrix of distractions, I am FREE! I no longer give into the temptations of the sirens whose sole purpose is to lure me from my goals or priorities.
We are all easily seduced by the vibrating phone or new message notification and the anxiety that someone is needing us and expecting our response. It’s too great a seduction to resist. The urge to submit is too overwhelming. Trying to fight the compulsion all day will only deplete you and ultimately defeat you. It is easier to avoid temptation than it is to resist it.
Declaring it a Disconnected Day allows me to completely avoid the siren calls of The Matrix. Then in the undistracted stillness, I am able to access my soul, a creative depth, focus and flow I would not otherwise. It’s life giving and incredible!
I will set up my out of office assistant on my email during my disconnected days and knowing that this alert is going out to all those trying to solicit me will give me mental, emotional and psychological ease because I know that they are being notified that I am not reachable today, when I will be again, and if it’s life or death how I can be reached in an emergency. (Through my Ministry Partner, Daisy!)
The best part is the self-accountability statement that will be at the bottom: “If you hear from me on a day you receive this auto-responder then I have failed.”
I’m told it’s absolutely stupefying what you can get done in a day when you are able to be 100% focused and undisturbed for a full 24 hours. This alone is a HUGE benefit, and the bonus is it’s training everyone around me not to be dependent on me, thus taking more leadership themselves. By staying on course with my goal to achieve 100 Disconnected Days, I hope to be more fully present and experience the most God honoring, creative and productive year of my life.
How about you? How often were the intentions and productive plans of your day sacrificed to the seductive siren’s song of email and the rest? Want to join the revolution? I invite you to join me on this challenge: 100 Disconnected Days in 2016. Use them to do focused project work, to recover and revitalize, to refuel relationally. Just one workday and one weekend day would get you to the goal.
This weekend we will be in John 12:1-8 and I want to warn you, prepare for a challenge. If you think going tech free for 2 days a week is counter intuitive, you won’t believe what Mary’s act of worship teaches us. I can’t wait to see you on Sunday! I love being your pastor!
Gary Gaddini
Lead Pastor
Copyright © 2016, All rights reserved.
How did I ever do this before I retired? Get rid of more stuff. I walk away, sit and cry. The purring cat flings herself into my lap. I read my email on the phone. A familiar verse from the Message, and the phrase, "disconnect, revitalize, rest". Yup. Burned out? Yup. Can a nap fix this? A little.
I need a Savior to resurrect the dying and the dead in me. Can He? Of course. Will He? If I make time for Him. Will I? Or will the call of the pile on my desk turn my resolve to seek Him into the depths of despair?
No. I will turn from the screaming pile to my Lord, my King, the One who knows what it takes to restore me. Yes a nap. Tomorrow is another day. I love You Jesus, thank You for seeing where I am and providing the break I need.
Help me be the friend, wife and woman You have called me to be. A woman who will yoke herself to You and learn from You the unforced rhythms of grace. I feel better already. Thank You Lord!
Barb
God loves you so much!
On Jan 27, 2016, at 2:59 PM, Peninsula Covenant Church wrote:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
Good Afternoon, PCC!
(Note: The following Gmail is adapted from a blog entry entitled: Daily Mentoring with Darren Hardy.)
I’m doing it and I want you to join me! I’m aiming for 100 Disconnected Days in 2016: To disconnect myself from all communications (email, phone calls, texts and social media) for a 24 hour period of time (sometimes 2-days straight or 48 hours!) so that I could focus on head down, undisturbed, creative production, or rest and recovery, or relationships that matter most to me. To be clear, here is how a disconnected day is defined: A day focused on creative production or rest and recovery off the digital communication grid.
Why do I need to achieve this goal? Because of this one problem: I am easily seduced. It seems I am weak. Everyday I set out to be disciplined. Everyday I promise I will not stray. Everyday I swear I will stay focused. But everyday somehow the siren’s song of email, texts, phone calls and social media always hinder me. I submit. I give in. I bite the apple. And once again the grand intentions of my day are squandered in the vortex of reacting to the solicitations of other people’s agendas.
But when I create a “Disconnected Day” for myself, a day to disconnect from The Matrix of distractions, I am FREE! I no longer give into the temptations of the sirens whose sole purpose is to lure me from my goals or priorities.
We are all easily seduced by the vibrating phone or new message notification and the anxiety that someone is needing us and expecting our response. It’s too great a seduction to resist. The urge to submit is too overwhelming. Trying to fight the compulsion all day will only deplete you and ultimately defeat you. It is easier to avoid temptation than it is to resist it.
Declaring it a Disconnected Day allows me to completely avoid the siren calls of The Matrix. Then in the undistracted stillness, I am able to access my soul, a creative depth, focus and flow I would not otherwise. It’s life giving and incredible!
I will set up my out of office assistant on my email during my disconnected days and knowing that this alert is going out to all those trying to solicit me will give me mental, emotional and psychological ease because I know that they are being notified that I am not reachable today, when I will be again, and if it’s life or death how I can be reached in an emergency. (Through my Ministry Partner, Daisy!)
The best part is the self-accountability statement that will be at the bottom: “If you hear from me on a day you receive this auto-responder then I have failed.”
I’m told it’s absolutely stupefying what you can get done in a day when you are able to be 100% focused and undisturbed for a full 24 hours. This alone is a HUGE benefit, and the bonus is it’s training everyone around me not to be dependent on me, thus taking more leadership themselves. By staying on course with my goal to achieve 100 Disconnected Days, I hope to be more fully present and experience the most God honoring, creative and productive year of my life.
How about you? How often were the intentions and productive plans of your day sacrificed to the seductive siren’s song of email and the rest? Want to join the revolution? I invite you to join me on this challenge: 100 Disconnected Days in 2016. Use them to do focused project work, to recover and revitalize, to refuel relationally. Just one workday and one weekend day would get you to the goal.
This weekend we will be in John 12:1-8 and I want to warn you, prepare for a challenge. If you think going tech free for 2 days a week is counter intuitive, you won’t believe what Mary’s act of worship teaches us. I can’t wait to see you on Sunday! I love being your pastor!
Gary Gaddini
Lead Pastor
Copyright © 2016, All rights reserved.