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Transcript

Busyness Is Killing Us: How To Stop Wearing Busyness Like a Badge of Honor · Mud & Rib Podcast

0:00
[music]
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Hi, everybody.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Mud and Rib Podcast.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: We're glad to be with you today.
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SPEAKER_00: We are a podcast that talks about love, life, and leadership.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: And today we're going to be talking about busyness and how it's killing us.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, why don't you tell me the story of your plate?
0:24
SPEAKER_01: So first, wait, let me just say this about plates.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: My favorite time to take on the dishes is when there's paper plates.
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SPEAKER_00: Yes, I know.
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SPEAKER_01: And there's been many times I wish that we had a paper plate for your busyness.
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SPEAKER_01: So we can just throw it away and start over.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: I have a history of filling my plate up with too much to do and then having to have
0:49
SPEAKER_00: a little cry and a little meltdown and then having to reevaluate
0:54
SPEAKER_00: and scrape my plate off to fill it back up again.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: Do you think you filled up your or you fill up your plate?
1:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're certainly getting better at not exceeding your capacity of your plate.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: But what would you say is the underlying motive of that?
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Would you say it's perfectionism or what?
1:16
SPEAKER_01: What would you say?
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's a lot of things.
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SPEAKER_00: But one is, honestly, when someone asks me what I like to do, I like to work.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: I just like to do stuff.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: I like to be active.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And so for me...
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SPEAKER_00: I like to stay busy.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: And I would say that it's because I don't want to think about things,
1:33
SPEAKER_00: but that's really not true of me is that I spend time reflecting on things.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: So no, it's not that, but I like to work.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: So you're a doer.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm a doer.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm a doer.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's a lot of other reasons we're going to talk
1:44
SPEAKER_00: about why people fill their plates up.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: And just some experiences we've had.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: And we can kind of dive into a little bit of that.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: We want to say that this episode is coming out of a lot of personal experience.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: It's not something that's abstract or kind of out there for us.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: We both have been executives in a megachurch.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: I was executive at a medical billing and staffing company.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: I was an executive at a medical technology company.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: And then we've started businesses together.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: I started a business with a friend.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: We've also started a lot of churches.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: And then we've also started nonprofits.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: And so we know,
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SPEAKER_00: even though we are in full-time ministry now,
2:28
SPEAKER_00: We have had the pressure of not having much money,
2:32
SPEAKER_00: having money,
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SPEAKER_00: the pressure of trying to manage kids and work and ministry and continue
2:39
SPEAKER_00: to be faithful disciple makers.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: And so this comes out of a lot of experience.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: I was just thinking of another title of this.
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SPEAKER_01: It could be your capacity to do can get you in lots of doo doo.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: Is that what you've done?
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SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's happening to me.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: Okay,
2:55
SPEAKER_01: so let's get into some of the principles and some of the problems and practices
3:01
SPEAKER_01: to help us with this issue of busyness.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe let's start with the why.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: Why do we find ourselves in such a place of busyness in this culture?
3:11
SPEAKER_00: We recently had a meeting with our city teams and we kind of asked the question,
3:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure what the question was you posed,
3:17
SPEAKER_00: but it was something to do with busyness.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Well,
3:20
SPEAKER_01: it was built upon Psalms 4610 was like our discovery reflection that if being still
3:27
SPEAKER_01: and knowing God leads to Him being exalted among the nations,
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SPEAKER_01: then why are we so busy?
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SPEAKER_01: If busyness won't get us to the end result,
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SPEAKER_01: then what's it going to take or what do we need to do to change?
3:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's good.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: Some of the things that came out of our conversation about the why is one is technology.
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SPEAKER_00: And so the technology era that we live in has caused so many lines to be blurred.
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SPEAKER_00: So many,
3:58
SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: everything from there's no there's no differentiation between work and home life.
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SPEAKER_00: You know, you're always available.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Then you have our awareness of everything that's going on.
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SPEAKER_00: And so there's fear of missing out.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: What else do you think?
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SPEAKER_01: Well, I just think what I hear you saying is that there's a lot of cultural issues
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SPEAKER_01: that lead to busyness with technologies and changes in modernity and even beyond
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SPEAKER_01: the industrial age to the technological age where stuff moves so fast
4:31
SPEAKER_01: and connection seems almost immediate.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Watching for this time,
4:35
SPEAKER_01: Poldark,
4:36
SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: which is a series about a time in the early 1800s around England and dealing
4:43
SPEAKER_01: with France and how they're having to send letters by horse back and forth
4:48
SPEAKER_01: to families.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: So I think there's some cultural things that we are wrestling with that we need
4:55
SPEAKER_01: to be honest about.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: But cultural is never an excuse to keep us from living out the principles and being
4:59
SPEAKER_01: the kingdom stewards that he wants us to be.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: One of the others is that people feel like I have to do everything.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: And I was guilty of that, especially early in our marriage.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: I felt like that.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm just going to be honest.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: I felt like I could do it better and I wanted it a certain way.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: And so I had a hard time being a team player.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Because the team may not do it the way I thought was best.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: And that is a huge change in me that I want people to do it with me.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do everything.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: But that is a real killer for us being overwhelmed and busy.
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SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the whole busyness is a badge of honor.
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SPEAKER_01: And it almost stings when people tell me, you know, I know you're busy.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I do have a lot of responsibility.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: We're not talking about not working hard,
5:57
SPEAKER_01: but we are talking about how important it is for us not to lose focus.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: And this is more about focus than really it is about not working hard or other things.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the badge of honor, I totally experienced that at my job, one of my corporate jobs.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: Everybody there, I mean, and they paid us good money.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: So there was an expectation that we were going to be available 24-7,
6:23
SPEAKER_00: that we would do whatever it took.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: And being the kind of personality that likes to work, you get me in an environment like that.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's a setup for a nervous breakdown because I,
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SPEAKER_00: and I did, I was guilty of wearing busyness like a badge of honor.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: And I know people that still do that.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: And I've,
6:41
SPEAKER_00: that's one of the things that I purposefully left that job because I recognized
6:47
SPEAKER_00: that it was consuming me.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: I was valuing being busy as though it made me important.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: And I knew that I had to leave that because that was not a good place to be.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Of leadership on a lot of layers from business to ministry,
7:13
SPEAKER_01: where there is tons of either self-medicating that is going on to kind of numb
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SPEAKER_01: the pain of the difficulty of busyness.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: There's also a lot of mental illness and a lot of prescribed medication
7:30
SPEAKER_01: that is going on and a lot of it is the result of a busy lifestyle.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to say everything is,
7:37
SPEAKER_01: you certainly need to be I'm not aware of the danger of oversimplifying everything,
7:42
SPEAKER_01: but I think absolutely in our culture and in our lifestyle are things
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SPEAKER_01: in this busyness that leads us to a place of unhealthiness,
7:53
SPEAKER_01: self-medicating,
7:54
SPEAKER_01: having prescribed medication, and a lot of it is related to a lifestyle of busyness.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: It's two things I was just thinking about.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: One is when I first left my corporate job,
8:07
SPEAKER_00: And we moved to the house we're currently in, which is in the woods.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: It has taken me a long time of being here to really know how to be still.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: And that is something that I think in a culture that we don't know how to be still,
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SPEAKER_00: I didn't know how to be still, and I'm still having to practice being still.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: And so this is something that we have to actually work at to learn how to be still.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: And that probably sounds very counterintuitive to work at being still, but it's true.
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SPEAKER_00: Like it takes, it's a practice.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's the whole idea of,
8:40
SPEAKER_01: of working out your salvation with fear and trembling when the reality is,
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SPEAKER_01: is God does the work,
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SPEAKER_01: but it's work to be surrendered,
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SPEAKER_01: to be rested,
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SPEAKER_01: to trust him and to not overextend ourselves,
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SPEAKER_01: but basically to allow God to be in control.
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SPEAKER_00: And this is true of people in the corporate world.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: This is true of people in ministry.
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SPEAKER_00: We have had opportunities where we were with, let's say, a room full of 25 pastors.
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SPEAKER_00: And out of those 25,
9:10
SPEAKER_00: all but four,
9:11
SPEAKER_00: including us,
9:12
SPEAKER_00: we were included in that,
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SPEAKER_00: were on some type of in counseling,
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SPEAKER_00: medication, trying to deal with the stress of leading churches.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that's how God intended for this to be.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: Well, what would be some of the reasons that you think attribute to that kind of difficulty?
9:33
SPEAKER_00: Well, that goes back to kind of the Jethro principle,
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SPEAKER_00: as we call it,
9:36
SPEAKER_00: just everything being focused on one person and such responsibility being on
9:43
SPEAKER_00: the shoulders of one person,
9:44
SPEAKER_00: not teaming as well as we should and delegating and trusting responsibility
9:50
SPEAKER_00: to other people, I think is a lot of it.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: But there is a lot of Feelings of insignificance are wanting to be important in all
9:58
SPEAKER_00: of us, whether it's in the corporate world, it's in the church life.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: And so I think that all the things we mentioned before happen in the church.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Being the knight in shining armor,
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SPEAKER_01: so to speak,
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SPEAKER_01: to be the hero,
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SPEAKER_01: having significance out of everyone looking to you,
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SPEAKER_01: either for your leadership,
10:17
SPEAKER_01: your care, et cetera, creates some of these unhealthy patterns.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: I remember when you were talking about that,
10:26
SPEAKER_01: I remember in the early days,
10:27
SPEAKER_01: this is probably late 90s,
10:30
SPEAKER_01: when we had started this church that was built
10:32
SPEAKER_01: upon what we called healing communities,
10:34
SPEAKER_01: these community groups, which functioned as simple churches.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: And then we had this very attractional celebration in school with music and drama
10:44
SPEAKER_01: and lots of video clips and things like that.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: And I remember communicating broadly to those who had committed to the mission,
10:52
SPEAKER_01: vision,
10:52
SPEAKER_01: and values of the church to say,
10:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to be the one who takes care of your every need.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: We're going to learn to take care of each other.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: And that it's our responsibility as Christ followers and
11:04
SPEAKER_01: in these healing communities is where we will get our pastoral care,
11:08
SPEAKER_01: where we will support one another and help.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is enough,
11:12
SPEAKER_01: and one another should be enough,
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SPEAKER_01: but there would be situations that maybe were beyond what one group could care for,
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SPEAKER_01: or even the capacity of the caring leaders that were there,
11:25
SPEAKER_01: and then I would help with that.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: I remember when I sent that communication out, there was...
11:31
SPEAKER_01: A few that were like, you're supposed to be there for all of our needs 24-7.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: Because you're like a doctor.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like a doctor.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, bro, you pay me like a doctor and I might consider it.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: But at that time, I was like, no, no, that's not the value of the kingdom.
11:48
SPEAKER_01: We're supposed to love one another.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: We're supposed to care for one another,
11:53
SPEAKER_01: not have the professional guy,
11:55
SPEAKER_01: the clergy, the pastor at everything that Because that will just wreck him or her.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: And so that's one example of kind of what you're talking about,
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SPEAKER_01: about a systemic way of thinking that creates busyness and can wreck lives.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: And it goes both ways.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: It goes from the place of the leader.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Having and training
12:18
SPEAKER_00: and guiding inappropriate biblical values around us doing this together,
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SPEAKER_00: one another,
12:25
SPEAKER_00: but also as the person who is part of a family,
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SPEAKER_00: a church family,
12:30
SPEAKER_00: recognizing that I shouldn't put that kind of pressure on one person,
12:35
SPEAKER_00: that I should believe that the people that are
12:38
SPEAKER_00: in my community are royal priests capable of If they're in the word of God and trust
12:45
SPEAKER_00: in God together to help shepherd people,
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SPEAKER_00: Comfort, help me when I'm in trouble and when I have needs.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: And so it's both of us.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's very good.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about the gathering of God's people of disciples,
12:58
SPEAKER_01: their gathering and what we want to see in their lives are these characteristics.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: And we talked about treasure already of debt and how we steward our resources.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: And we use this term stewardship a lot,
13:13
SPEAKER_01: even though it's kind of an More of an ancient word and not used as much.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: But I think because it's an old word,
13:23
SPEAKER_01: we can basically give it some language and it can help us understand the importance
13:30
SPEAKER_01: of the value of taking care of our time, our talent.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: And so what am I doing with that?
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SPEAKER_01: And how am I reflecting on, okay, God, how am I using my time?
13:46
SPEAKER_01: How am I using my treasure?
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SPEAKER_01: How am I using my talents for your kingdom?
13:52
SPEAKER_01: So this is another layer of what we call biblical stewardship.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: And again,
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SPEAKER_01: a steward is someone who recognizes I have the responsibility of taking care
14:03
SPEAKER_01: of something that is not mine,
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SPEAKER_01: but I should take care of it as it is mine and treat it in such a way
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SPEAKER_01: that I honor God and honor one another in the process.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: That's good.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: You had a couple of scriptures you wanted to share with us, I think.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, I already shared, be still and know that I'm God from Psalms 46.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: That was one of them.
14:24
SPEAKER_01: The second one is out of 2 Timothy, where Paul tells Timothy, To invest in faithful ones.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: He calls him his son.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: He tells Timothy that I have taught you.
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SPEAKER_01: I have invested in you.
14:41
SPEAKER_01: I have discipled you.
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SPEAKER_01: You disciple faithful ones who will in turn do the same for others.
14:46
SPEAKER_01: And then he transitions to communicating, fighting the fight as a good soldier.
14:54
SPEAKER_01: So when
14:59
SPEAKER_01: we talk about busyness,
15:01
SPEAKER_01: we're talking more about being distracted from the purposes and mission of God
15:09
SPEAKER_01: towards a busyness and a distraction and a lack of focus.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: And you could even say busyness.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Putting programs above purpose,
15:16
SPEAKER_01: because I think that's one of the biggest issues in our culture is we are
15:20
SPEAKER_01: so program driven that we've lost our purpose and it's created a layer
15:24
SPEAKER_01: of busyness that's not effective.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: But we're not talking about not being focused.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: And in this example,
15:31
SPEAKER_01: he's saying focus like a soldier, work hard like a farmer and train like an athlete.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: So what are the things we need to do to make sure that we are focused and not distracted?
15:48
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I think it means to be still and know that he is God
15:52
SPEAKER_01: and he will be exalted among the nations.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: That's good.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: That's really good.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: So what are some of the things that you do that are practices that you do personally
16:01
SPEAKER_00: that help you stay focused and help you to stay?
16:06
SPEAKER_00: We know you don't have it.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: Guy doesn't have a problem being focused.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact,
16:10
SPEAKER_00: if I try to talk to him and he's focused on something else,
16:13
SPEAKER_00: he can't hear anything else.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to bring our marriage into this.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: This is love life and leadership.
16:22
SPEAKER_01: So there's a couple things that I do.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: One is that I start out my day pretty early, but not super early.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: I get good rest.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: I typically go to bed at the same time,
16:33
SPEAKER_01: and that way I spend an hour to two hours in the morning reflecting.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: So I read my Bible.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I take notes.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm not a big note taker or journaler, though I recommend that.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: And some people, it works really well for them.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: You have to find kind of your fingerprint.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: But I love to listen, which I used to not do a lot of.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: So I just sit and listen and reflect and think.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: Think about, of course, God, the people in my life.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: And I'll read, you know, anywhere from two to three.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: 10 chapters of scripture.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes I'll just reflect and think upon things, you know, and spend some time meditating.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: So that's the big piece of it.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: And then the other thing is, is that I block off stuff in my calendar.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm not guilty for...
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Working out.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: That's part of my overall health and being a good steward of the time.
17:28
SPEAKER_01: And so I will block that out.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: And if you call me, I mean, there's emergency cases, of course.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: But if you call me, I will say, no, I've got something on my calendar.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: During that time,
17:39
SPEAKER_01: both my time with God,
17:40
SPEAKER_01: I don't do early meetings super early,
17:43
SPEAKER_01: only for certain global ones that are pretty important.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: Because when you've got 13 hour differences from zero to 13 hour times,
17:51
SPEAKER_01: you might have to get up and do that.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: I may have to do a 7.30 or 7 a.m. call, but I don't do more than probably once a month of that.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: So most of the time I don't do anything before 8.30 or 9
18:01
SPEAKER_01: and I've already been up two to three hours.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: So I build margins into my life and there's a certain amount of set meetings
18:10
SPEAKER_01: that I will do And I won't exceed that so that the rest of
18:16
SPEAKER_01: the time I can be flexible because there's a lot of people that need me or want
18:20
SPEAKER_01: to talk to me that is appropriate in my investment in leaders that I've committed
18:27
SPEAKER_01: to them and to be flexible and to somewhat embrace Jesus as in the interruptions.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: I wish I could say I'm really good at that.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: Right.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: That's an area that I'm not so good at.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: Right.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: I like to control my schedule.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: And when I get interrupted, I get irritated because I don't like how God's messing up my plans.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: So that's just the honest truth.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: But I'm learning.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: You know,
18:51
SPEAKER_01: that's an area that I'm still just growing in and continue to challenge and to fight
18:55
SPEAKER_01: that, you know.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus is in the interruptions.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: You saw him get interrupted so many different times.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: And the disciples get irritated with people interrupting him and him going, oh, no, no, no.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: Wait a second.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: You know, whether it was the 10 lepers screaming at him or the babies trying to get in his lap.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: Jesus used those as teachable moments to say, hey,
19:17
SPEAKER_01: the father's in the interruptions and we've got to learn to trust him in the midst
19:20
SPEAKER_01: of that.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Right.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: That's really good.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: One of the things I just want to comment on is...
19:25
SPEAKER_00: We had a leader that would always talk about spending three hours in prayer.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: And I felt really intimidated by that because I felt like I know I walk with Jesus,
19:33
SPEAKER_00: but I don't spend three hours in prayer a day.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: I didn't have that type of capacity or time to do that.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: And especially when I was working in the corporate world,
19:42
SPEAKER_00: I had to really work hard to make sure that I continue to value and put first Jesus
19:49
SPEAKER_00: in my day.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: And so I really worked hard at when I, I mean, I traveled a lot.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: And so I was in a hotel.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: And I always made sure that I scheduled time to get up.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: I didn't care if we had a meeting at eight o'clock or if we had a meeting at seven.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: I was going to get up at whatever time to give some time to reading my Bible
20:07
SPEAKER_00: and spending time praying and asking God for the day to be the day that he directed
20:12
SPEAKER_00: and wanted.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: I also had to build in the thing that changed for me when my level
20:18
SPEAKER_00: of work changed was setting an alarm for several times during the day.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: And that was my reminder to pause and refocus.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: Everything on Jesus,
20:29
SPEAKER_00: because what would happen is I would go throughout my day
20:31
SPEAKER_00: and find myself becoming more and more anxious or frustrated or mad about something.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: And when I took time to pause throughout the day to refocus,
20:40
SPEAKER_00: it would help me be less anxious,
20:43
SPEAKER_00: less intense with people, reminding me that God is in control.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm not in control.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: And so that was one of the things that I did when we Yeah,
20:53
SPEAKER_01: so I think practices for a busy lifestyle or in this culture are super important
21:00
SPEAKER_01: to maintain our focus and not get caught up in the rat race,
21:03
SPEAKER_01: so to speak,
21:04
SPEAKER_01: would be like seizing your commute time as times to listen to podcasts,
21:09
SPEAKER_01: scripture, worship music.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Don't listen to stuff that's going to get you all riled up,
21:15
SPEAKER_01: amped up, some political stuff that gets you fired up.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's time to actually listen and meditate on the way.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: If you can't do an hour in the morning and do just 15 minutes,
21:27
SPEAKER_01: but take time throughout the day to reflect upon God and to focus
21:33
SPEAKER_01: and refocus yourself.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, whenever you get in your car, just saying, God, direct and drive my life.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: Be the force that carries me to where I need to be on this journey.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: You know,
22:06
SPEAKER_01: when I light fires around here,
22:08
SPEAKER_01: I talk about God continuing to stir a fire in me that burns away the impurities
22:15
SPEAKER_01: in my life.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: And so be that all-consuming fire in my life.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: So taking chores and taking things that we do every day Just reminding God,
22:25
SPEAKER_01: that's part of the reason why we say grace is a time to pause and reflect
22:30
SPEAKER_01: upon God's provision,
22:31
SPEAKER_01: upon being grateful and thankful for all He's provided and done.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: But it doesn't have to be just giving thanks for food.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: You can have thoughts of meditation throughout the day on many different tasks
22:45
SPEAKER_01: and things that you do throughout the day.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: And so by doing these things,
22:49
SPEAKER_00: it's helping us to focus, which is what we're trying to talk about.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: We're wanting to talk about and bring to the light is how do we stay focused
22:57
SPEAKER_00: on what it is that's most important?
22:59
SPEAKER_00: And of course, that's Jesus and how he can help us with these things.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: One of the practical things that I've done,
23:06
SPEAKER_00: which is surprising because I tend to lean toward feeling guilty about things,
23:11
SPEAKER_00: but I feel absolutely no guilt about this.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: And I learned this quite a while back,
23:15
SPEAKER_00: and it was really a life changer for me because I was the person that
23:18
SPEAKER_00: if you called me and said you had a problem, I was going to run to help you.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: And kind of like a savior syndrome.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: And it was not healthy.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: And so I used to feel like if you called me and said, hey, can you do something?
23:32
SPEAKER_00: That if I looked at my calendar and there was nothing on my calendar that I couldn't say no.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: I had to have a reason to say no.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: And I've grown past that.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I have no problem saying that.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: I have a commitment or I cannot do that that day without any explanation.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: And that could just be that I've carved out that day for rest.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: I've carved out that day to be with my grandkids.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: I've carved out that day to do nothing.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to have an excuse to not come to your wedding.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to have an excuse not to go to something.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: It's okay for me to carve out what is best for me and do that.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: Obviously not forsaking the fact that I'm supposed to be and should be about people.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: But when you're giving your life to people,
24:16
SPEAKER_00: most of the time you really have to protect some of that time and not feel bad
24:20
SPEAKER_00: about saying no.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for me,
24:22
SPEAKER_01: it was more of a FOMO issue of fear of missing out of being with people,
24:26
SPEAKER_01: you know,
24:26
SPEAKER_01: and I just recently there, I don't even remember what the comedian's name was.
24:29
SPEAKER_01: We said in your 20s, you were like, yeah, I'll be there.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: I'll do whatever.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: In your 30s, you're like, can I drive my own car?
24:36
SPEAKER_01: And in the 40s, it's like, no, I don't want to do it.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: And so there is some in maturing and as you get older that the fear
24:46
SPEAKER_01: of missing out might not be as strong.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: But for me as a person who loves people,
24:51
SPEAKER_01: I still battle,
24:52
SPEAKER_01: you know, wanting to do certain things and have a little FOMO about stuff.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: And again,
25:00
SPEAKER_01: it's okay to enjoy things,
25:02
SPEAKER_01: but there's so many things that take us out of a healthy rhythm.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: That we have to desire God's love.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: His perfect love casts out fear.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: And usually there's a fear as far as terror and power,
25:17
SPEAKER_01: but there's also this fear of missing out that comes from my significance
25:22
SPEAKER_01: and often my motivation and what compels me is actually people rather than God.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: And so knowing that His perfect love casts out fear also relates to the fear of missing out.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: That when your significance is found in God,
25:40
SPEAKER_01: it's not found in people, it should change your motivation.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really good.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: And that's true because there's often that I felt that way,
25:49
SPEAKER_00: almost like people are going to forget me.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: If I don't show up at everything, I won't be important.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: And I don't struggle with that near as much as I used to.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: I actually like to be home.
25:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and there's a big part of us in our brokenness.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: We strive for ministry significance, and that is a dangerous place to be.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: Many people go,
26:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm holding up quotation marks for those who can't see,
26:13
SPEAKER_01: go into ministry when the truth is all of us have a ministry,
26:18
SPEAKER_01: but we go into ministry out of broken places and spaces that's motivated by a desire
26:23
SPEAKER_01: to be significant rather than understand.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: And I'm already significant in Christ in any of my striving and trying
26:31
SPEAKER_01: to be recognized by people is a wrong motivation
26:36
SPEAKER_01: because it should be Christ's love compels us.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: We're new creations.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: We're ambassadors.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: We've been given a ministry and a message.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: And instead,
26:45
SPEAKER_01: we operate out of broken places rather than those motivations of our identity and
26:50
SPEAKER_01: the love of Christ.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: And that's true across the board, whether it's ministry, work, at home.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: We all want to feel important.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: And so it is so important that our identity is found in the right place.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of this,
27:03
SPEAKER_01: even when you talk about kingdom impact,
27:05
SPEAKER_01: that slower is faster just does not make a lick of sense.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: But it really is slower is faster.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: But we try to run around and make stuff happen, trying to execute the power.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: Practices of the Kingdom, the core missionary task is some language that some people use.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: And so we so focus on execution that actually we execute ourselves and people
27:32
SPEAKER_01: and we miss the essence that really needs to be multiplied.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: And the essence is God's love in this depth of the kingdom.
27:41
SPEAKER_01: That is what needs to be multiplied.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: So we need both execution and essence working together.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: We need a wineskin and the wine working together.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Both of them are very important.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: But if you were to honestly say, which do you need?
27:57
SPEAKER_01: If you had to choose one or the other, we want the essence of the kingdom.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: And we want the wine.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: The wineskin is just a tool to carry it to the ends of the earth.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: But we want it to go to the ends of the earth.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: So...
28:08
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a key piece in this is the doers want to execute stuff.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: And that's a dangerous place to be.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: You have to know, be, do.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: You need to know that God loves you,
28:18
SPEAKER_01: know who you are, be who he says you are, be in your identity.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: And then that leads to the doing.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: So it's, you know, identity again, intimacy and influence all working together.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: That's really good.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: Remind me of the quote, I never confuse motion with progress, a rocking horse.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: What does it say?
28:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, rocking horses in constant movement, but goes nowhere.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: And I think we got a lot of rocking horses,
28:44
SPEAKER_01: particularly in ministry and people that run around doing programs and trying
28:52
SPEAKER_01: to meet every need is a dangerous place to be.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: So never confuse motion with progress.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: A rocking horse is...
29:01
SPEAKER_00: It's in constant motion, but it's going nowhere.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's correct.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: And those of us that embrace kind of what we call movement language,
29:09
SPEAKER_01: the greatest move of God needs to happen inside you.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: And so it's a move of God's spirit working in and through you rather than I got
29:18
SPEAKER_01: to move to do something.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: And again, that's built on identity of knowing who we are.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Yes, right.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Let's move into some more of the practical ways that people can really begin
29:29
SPEAKER_00: to Slow down and change their perspective about busyness.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that we've made a really important value in our marriage and
29:40
SPEAKER_00: in our life is annually,
29:42
SPEAKER_00: we will sit down and talk about what do we believe God has been speaking to us
29:46
SPEAKER_00: for this year?
29:47
SPEAKER_00: What do we believe the focus needs to be?
29:50
SPEAKER_00: And how do we calendar and plan our year according to that?
29:55
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that means things have to change.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: That means,
29:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to say relationships change in the sense of there are no more,
30:03
SPEAKER_00: but maybe the amount of time investment in certain relationships might change.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: So these can be difficult situations.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: There are decisions that have to be made.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: There may be,
30:12
SPEAKER_00: in your case,
30:13
SPEAKER_00: family members that you need to set boundaries with that have to change
30:16
SPEAKER_00: because they have an expectation of you that's unrealistic.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: There may be all types of things that you need to focus on for the year.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: For you,
30:24
SPEAKER_00: it might be,
30:25
SPEAKER_00: how am I going to have healthier relationships this year that allow for me
30:29
SPEAKER_00: to have space to heal and become whole and to focus on Jesus and to focus
30:33
SPEAKER_00: on getting his word to the end of the earth?
30:36
SPEAKER_00: There are many things, but we will look at our year and plan according to that.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: So that's coming up for us.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: We'll be sitting down and we're really looking this year for us,
30:47
SPEAKER_00: this 80-20 principle about where do we need to be spending 80% of our time?
30:51
SPEAKER_00: Where do we need to be spending 20% of our time?
30:54
SPEAKER_00: But you see,
30:54
SPEAKER_00: there's a focus on this and we want to make sure that our schedule coincides
30:59
SPEAKER_00: with what that focus needs to be.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: So again, we're talking about reflecting, communicating together.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: So communicating and then calendaring accordingly, you know, and budgeting accordingly.
31:11
SPEAKER_01: So like we talked about where your treasure is, there your heart will be.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: Where your calendar is, there your heart will be.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:19
SPEAKER_01: There's tons of practical principles and things we need to do to be intentional
31:25
SPEAKER_01: to keep busyness from taking over.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: I love out of the Indian,
31:29
SPEAKER_01: the church in India basically used the term busy to say bound unrighteousness.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: And if we are running around not reflecting and thinking and taking time like this
31:41
SPEAKER_01: to focus on God and where we are in our priorities,
31:45
SPEAKER_01: then we can get swallowed up by busyness.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, the other saying is if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: And so just running around busy aimlessly,
31:58
SPEAKER_01: as Paul said, like fighting in the air rather than being focused, that is a problem.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I highly recommend that you annually do that,
32:07
SPEAKER_00: but also every three months we will be looking at how did the things that we did
32:12
SPEAKER_00: over these three months work?
32:14
SPEAKER_00: Was it something that was beneficial?
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Are there things in the next three months we need to change?
32:18
SPEAKER_00: And the reason for that is you don't want to wait until eight months in
32:21
SPEAKER_00: and you realize, Man, that was not working for me.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: And you've only got several months at the end of the year to try to course correct.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: We should be course correcting all the time.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: And part of that comes from a pattern of waking up and asking God,
32:35
SPEAKER_00: what is it that you want for my day?
32:37
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I know the big picture on my calendar, but what is it that you want?
32:41
SPEAKER_00: What are the things I need to see, be aware of?
32:43
SPEAKER_00: I need your guidance and input to everything that's happening today.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: So that's on the micro level.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: The macro is this big calendaring and planning.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: Another piece of this is we have an individual responsibility,
32:57
SPEAKER_01: but again,
32:58
SPEAKER_01: corporately,
32:59
SPEAKER_01: that we are a part of a community,
33:02
SPEAKER_01: a simple church that's on mission that we regularly say,
33:05
SPEAKER_01: okay, how are we going to apply this?
33:07
SPEAKER_01: What are our goal?
33:08
SPEAKER_01: And are you willing to share it with us to talk about it?
33:11
SPEAKER_01: And so there's a constant,
33:12
SPEAKER_01: even a reflection,
33:14
SPEAKER_01: an opportunity for a redirection,
33:16
SPEAKER_01: a refocus every time we meet weekly when we gather.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: And then there's also in our networks where we set 90 day goals that are saying,
33:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm also going to focus on this.
33:28
SPEAKER_01: And then overall, how are we doing?
33:31
SPEAKER_01: And so these things Rhythms of reflection and thinking about goals and
33:39
SPEAKER_01: where we are help us focus.
33:41
SPEAKER_01: Now, I understand that you, again,
33:44
SPEAKER_01: the executors out there are like, yeah, yeah, yeah, man,
33:47
SPEAKER_01: we need to track and execute everything and goals,
33:51
SPEAKER_01: goals, goals, and you will grind people into the ground.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: So there is the other side of, again, don't let your execution execute yourself.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: The essence of what God wants to do.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: So this is not just about hard charging focus on execution.
34:07
SPEAKER_01: It's about execution and essence working together.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: And so one of the other things that we do is we make sure
34:14
SPEAKER_00: that we calendar time away every year, whatever that means.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: If we are not in a position where we don't have much money to do that,
34:21
SPEAKER_00: we make sure that we carve out.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: We've even done at home You know, times away with that we're not going to be working.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: Not my favorite.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Not my favorite either.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: It's challenging.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to do.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: But it's better than nothing.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: So, you know,
34:33
SPEAKER_00: you have to,
34:34
SPEAKER_00: you know,
34:34
SPEAKER_00: maybe that's making sure that you're going to the park on the days that you're off
34:38
SPEAKER_00: or doing something that's away from your home so you're not tempted to work.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: The point is carving out on your calendar and saying we're going to be sure
34:45
SPEAKER_00: because what happens for us if we don't say,
34:47
SPEAKER_00: you know,
34:48
SPEAKER_00: once every quarter or twice a year that we're going to get away and
34:52
SPEAKER_00: Then our calendar will fill up so quick and then we're going,
34:55
SPEAKER_00: oh my gosh, there's no week that we can do anything.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: And so it's important to calendar and stick to that.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the whole busyness of stuff will swallow up your time with God and
35:06
SPEAKER_01: with one another and how important it is to,
35:09
SPEAKER_01: again, for us, we calendar that stuff out.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's an important practice that makes sure that we We are focused on God
35:18
SPEAKER_01: and one another in our marriage and relationship.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: And that's why we have date nights on our calendar weekly.
35:23
SPEAKER_01: And we have these getaways that we do.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: And part of the getaways are also to listen, to refocus and reflection.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: So we'll talk about how are we doing in our lives,
35:33
SPEAKER_01: in our relationship with one another,
35:35
SPEAKER_01: in relationship with others, and how we are working together.
35:39
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's an important value for us to have in marriage and in our relationships.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: So maybe let's audit our week.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: Let's think about like, okay, so what is actually filling my time?
35:52
SPEAKER_00: And is there anything that's filling my time that I need to stop doing?
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Is there something that I need to start doing instead?
35:59
SPEAKER_00: And so again, this is kind of a progression.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: You start your day with Jesus.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: You audit your week.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: Asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any places that are filling your time
36:13
SPEAKER_00: that shouldn't be and are taking you away from the core missionary task.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: And keep in mind, again, we're saying you have to work.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: You have to go to a job.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: But while you're at your job,
36:21
SPEAKER_00: how are you doing with the core missionary task of getting Jesus to other people?
36:26
SPEAKER_00: We need to create margins.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: And that's probably a whole other podcast about creating margins in our life
36:30
SPEAKER_00: and what that means.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: But create margins.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: Protect a slot for rest and for listening.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: Prioritize one thing, like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: We need to prioritize the one thing that we're going to do.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's daily that we're thinking about.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: If I get nothing else done today, this is what it's going to be.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: Taking, having a Sabbath rhythm.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: And for us, I mean,
36:54
SPEAKER_00: Sabbath is really just,
36:55
SPEAKER_00: it's not,
36:55
SPEAKER_00: I don't personally believe it's a particular day,
36:58
SPEAKER_00: but it's building in time again to rest and to not be working.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Also check your motives.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: You know, why am I so busy?
37:07
SPEAKER_00: What is the motive for me feeling like I have to be doing something all the time?
37:11
SPEAKER_00: What would it hurt for me to not go to something?
37:14
SPEAKER_00: Would it be better for me to be at home for my health?
37:16
SPEAKER_00: And I do want to just say that in the busyness of my life,
37:23
SPEAKER_00: and I've had to do a lot of work, and it has physically made me sick.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: In some ways, being too busy.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: And so I've struggled with physical responses to being too busy.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: And so this is not a joke.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: Like this is a real thing that we have to fight in this culture.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: But it is so important, one,
37:46
SPEAKER_00: for our physical health,
37:47
SPEAKER_00: our mental health,
37:48
SPEAKER_00: our emotional health,
37:49
SPEAKER_00: but most importantly,
37:50
SPEAKER_00: our spiritual health,
37:52
SPEAKER_00: making sure that we are keeping our spiritual life alive and well.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: So we have this tension between being lazy and being busy.
38:01
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to be either one of those.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: As we close out, I just,
38:05
SPEAKER_01: on my heart, as I was thinking, you know, Kelli and I have been married 35 years.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: And so if you're listening to this, you're certainly going to hear and hear.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: To help you kind of download and to discern and to refocus as well.
38:39
SPEAKER_01: So get connected to some people that you trust that can help you walk out some
38:45
SPEAKER_01: of these principles,
38:46
SPEAKER_01: but also know that you have a huge advantage no matter what our culture says
38:52
SPEAKER_01: about us.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: That you are married to Christ and you are honored and valued in the kingdom.
38:58
SPEAKER_01: And scripture even alludes to the fact that you have the opportunity
39:02
SPEAKER_01: to be more focused than a married couple does and can.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: And so we want to encourage you to seize that opportunity in your singleness
39:13
SPEAKER_01: to trust God in the midst of this and to be focused.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: So as we close out, we just want to say that we encourage you to sit at the feet of Jesus.
39:24
SPEAKER_00: Ask him,
39:25
SPEAKER_00: ask him to search your heart,
39:27
SPEAKER_00: to reveal to you anything that needs to change,
39:30
SPEAKER_00: anything that is a motive that's impure,
39:33
SPEAKER_00: anything that is robbing you of your time and,
39:36
SPEAKER_00: and, and We really need to think about what is our capacity.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: That's been a hard one for me because I've had some physical limitations.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: I've had to really die to the fact that I have limitations both in time,
39:48
SPEAKER_00: energy, finances, all of those things.
39:51
SPEAKER_00: And I have to be okay with where God has me.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to do the same.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: And so we really hope that this episode helps you.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: If you will like, subscribe, share this, write a review for these podcasts.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: It really helps others to find us.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: But we really want this to be a help to you.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: So all of us have limits and all of us have limitations.
40:15
SPEAKER_01: Only God is limitless.
40:16
SPEAKER_01: So embracing our limits and part of that is limited time.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: And living out the dash between our birth and in our burial is counting our days,
40:29
SPEAKER_01: reflecting on our days,
40:31
SPEAKER_01: numbering our days and being a good steward of what God's given our time,
40:36
SPEAKER_01: our talent and our treasure.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: That's what a kingdom steward is all about.
40:41
SPEAKER_01: And whenever we steward what God's given us,
40:44
SPEAKER_01: well, he promises to use us and he helps us grow in the process.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: Until next time.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: God bless.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: God bless.
40:53
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