Tag: time management

As a bridal shower gift, I received a copy of The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. I thoroughly appreciated that gift! The book covers a lot of ground and gave me a lot to think about as I became a wife.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your family almost as much. Be patient and kind and do not be selfish. Create such an atmosphere in your home that your husband as well as other family members will look forward to coming home. They will want to be around you instead of avoid you…

A wife who has a gentle and meek spirit from the Lord provides a calming, soothing, and reassuring atmosphere in her home. She trusts God deeply and does not panic at difficult circumstances. She has a quiet confidence that God will “work all things for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28). Her confidence and faith in God grows daily as she studies the Scriptures because she is “growing in the grace and knowledge of (her) Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18, adaptation added).

 

These books are only set here as possibilities for you to explore. Posts and links are not endorsements or paid publicity.

Recently a new book came out, Refresh: Embracing a Grace-Paced Life in a World of Endless Demands by Shona & David Murray, that is an excellent resource for women feeling overwhelmed by responsibility and constant demands on their time and energy. The book discusses a visit to “Refresh Gym” for those facing or in the midst of burnout.

…there is a pace of running that will obtain the prize and a pace that won’t. A sprint pace will not win a long-distance race, although that’s what many of us try (and fail at). We try to run as fast as we can and even try to run everyone else’s race for them too. What miserable bondage! Now, having passed through Refresh Gym, many of us have learned that we must follow God’s race plan, a much more deliberate, grace-paced race, if we want to finish well.

There will be times when we have to run faster and push ourselves harder, but these times will be less frequent as we remind ourselves of the distance we have yet to run. These bursts of busyness and stress will be more frequently interspersed with refreshing recovery strategies, so that we will be much less likely to crash and burn as before. The occasional, sudden, immediate demands of our energy will not deplete us as before, because we have left margin in our lives.

If you feel the need for more intention and balance in your life, or are simply desperate to get your head above water, the book offers many practical insights across multiple areas of life. It’s also designed to walk through the gym one chapter (station) at a time, so you can take it at your own pace.

If you have read or do read this book, we’d love to hear your comments below.