Your weekly roundup of insights and resources to help you get more done for the glory of God.
In Today’s Issue:
- Ministry Emergency or Distraction?
- Exercising an Idle Mind
- The Necessity of Work in Retirement
- Backblaze Sale
- Spurgeon on Idleness
Dear steward,
I pray your Thursday is off to a great start. We’ve been enjoying some cool and foggy mornings here in Michigan this week. And some of my trees are already starting to turn. Fall is most certainly in there air.
And, tomorrow, I’ll be hosting the Post-Summer Productivity Reset workshop to help you transition out of the September Slump. I’ve completely rebuilt the workshop for this year to be even more actionable in helping you get clear, get organized, and get consistent for the glory of God.
There are fewer than 100 spots left, and this usually fills up. So, if you’d like to come or watch the replay, register now. It’s free.
The call is recorded and sent to registrants afterward, but I encourage you to attend the live call if you’re able. You’ll get more out of the interactive elements that way. I’ll also be sharing an exclusive offer just for people on the live call, as well as a special announcement ;)
Hope to see you there!
Now, let’s dive into this week’s roundup.
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THE ROUNDUP
The best links I found this week
Ministry Emergency or Distraction? (4 mins)
Reagan Rose / Focus on the Family
In my latest for “The Focused Pastor,” I write about the often difficult task of discerning between ministry emergencies and mere distractions.
Interruptions are part of ministry—often, they are the best parts! To provide counsel in spiritual crisis, comfort at a hospital bedside, or consolation after a sudden loss, that’s real, in-the-trenches ministry. But these times almost always come as interruptions to your schedule. Still, not every interruption is a ministry emergency. Some interruptions are distractions that keep you from doing the work the Lord has called you to. It takes wisdom to discern the difference.
Exercising an Idle Mind (5 mins)
Kelly Needham / Revive Our Hearts
This is a good word in our age of constant distraction. We choose what we fill our minds with. What are you fueling your rumination with?
I see in myself the need to flee not just from idle hands but also an idle mind. As is true of many women, unless I’m sleeping, my mind is quite active. And if I do not give my mind a steady intake of good fuel to burn, I will often be burning whatever fuel I can find. The result? Lots of thoughts about aimless things.
This article on Biblical meditation makes a good pairing with Needham’s.
The Necessity of Work Even in Retirement (4 mins)
Judy Allen / Institute for Faith, Work & Economics
I was speaking to a recent retiree just this week. He noted how retirement presented him with such a great opportunity, but at the same time, it was one of the most difficult transitions he had ever made.
Our careers are such a big part of our lives—and stewardship—that is can be a struggle to find purpose and focus in retirement. I appreciated Judy Allen’s emphasis that work doesn’t end just because your career does.
Retirement gives us an opportunity to put the work we’ve done in different arenas of life together creatively, to find unique expressions, to do some of the same things in distinctive ways. We become more ourselves.
In retirement, I hope you will still work, and through your work – whatever it is – that you will continue to grow emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. In fact, you might experience surprisingly abundant growth.
SOMETHING I LIKE
Backblaze
You probably already know you should back up your computer regularly. But maybe you’ve been putting it off because you’re not technical, it seems like too big a hassle, or you just don’t know which solution to use.
Well, I’ve been using Backblaze for over 15 years on my personal computers. And let me tell you, it has saved my tail on more than one occasion after a computer crash!
The best part is that it’s dead simple to set up and use on a Mac or PC, it only takes a few minutes to get up and running. And then instantly, that fear of losing all your family photos and files evaporates from your mind.
Right now, Backblaze is running a back-to-school sale if you use the code B2S2024 at checkout.
A DOSE OF WISDOM
Quote of the Week
“There is joy in hell when a saint grows idle! There is gladness among devils when we cease to pray, when we become slack in faith and feeble in communion with God.”
Charles Spurgeon
FINAL WORD
Thanks for reading!
For His glory,
Reagan Rose
P.S. Come to the thing tomorrow!!
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