Hello friends,
Greetings from Austin!👋
Have you ever thought about how when we die, how many unfinished things we’ll have? 🤔
Whether it’s small things like organizing the closet, or big things like finishing a side project or hobby, in the end, we will have much-unfinished work. 💀
In parallel, the end of the day brings about unfinished tasks as well as a type of “death” in the form of sleep. But a lot of people find it hard to end the day with unfinished tasks. In fact, work continues to happen in the form of worry, anxiety, & thoughts that toss and turn in the mind throughout the night. 🛏
How can someone find rest at the end of their life if they’re unable to take time to rest during their life?
Because there is always going to be work to do. Weekly and monthly meetups to keep up with no end. An endless stream of chores that need to be checked off the todo list. Notifications and messages to read.
Prioritizing rest not only allows for more energy and better focus on the tasks that we need to take on but also allows for greater trust in God. 🙏
In fact, one important form of rest is Sabbath. Back then, the Sabbath was a day of religious observance and abstinence from work kept by Jews from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and by most Christians on Sunday. ⛪
The importance of a Sabbath allows us to work diligently throughout the week and commit our all to our work, and then on Sabbath, we let go and learn to rest and trust in God’s sovereignty over our lives even when we have unfinished work.
Personally, I’ve started doing a Sabbath every Sunday evening since mid-September.
I block off that time post 5 PM to the rest of the night, diverting meetings away from being scheduled then and spending time doing things that give me energy, such as biking and reading, as well as intentionally resting in God’s Word and His presence.
And it’s been very fruitful! Though as an extravert, I’m still working on finding more things that give me energy besides people, I definitely treasure that time in His presence and want to guard it as best as I can. 🛡️
Because one day we will “rest”, whether we want to or not.
The question is, will we have taken active steps to rest and trust in God, or will we be forced to rest.
I, for one, hope to be with the former.
Thanks for checking in on this update this week! Hope y’all are finding times to rest even in this pandemic. I’m still learning to go through the process and trust in God, and I’ve definitely worked during my allotted Sabbath time. But fortunately, there is much grace for the lazy workaholic I am. 😅
In regards to work, though, I’m trying to implement something I learned from Craig Groeschel’s podcast, which is setting artificial deadlines. 😲
I’ve set a deadline to finish most of my newsletter content by Wednesday evening instead of Saturday, and so far, it’s working! I am finishing earlier than the night it’s due, haha. 😄
My goal is to be able to send out the newsletter at a scheduled time weekly instead of working on it to the last minutes of Saturday, so will keep updated on it (or just check to see if it’s posted at 9 AM or another ungodly hour 😪).
Anyways, here are some photos from the past week:
(We scheduled a roomie night to intentionally connect, eat good food, and play board games. A lot of Chik-Fil-A was consumed 🐔 before playing traumatizing games of Exploding Kittens & Bang, which I, unfortunately, lost all 💀)
(So much Chik-Fil-A & Chik-Fil-A Sauce!! 🤤)
(Now our apt is officially called “The Chingoos”, Korean for “The Friends” - though the images one of the roommates drew of all of us that may be too buff for some 💪)
(Made wings for the first time! I will say that for less than 50 cents a wing, it’s a pretty good deal. All you need is salt, pepper, a little prep, and you get a nice batch of roasted wings 👌)
Thanks as always for reading. If y’all have any prayer requests, thoughts, or suggestions, would love to hear from you! 🙂
With that, stay safe, keep it savvy, and I’ll see y’all in the next update 😊
Eric
Weekly Collections
A collection of articles I enjoyed…
Faith
“Perhaps it is fortunate that we did not live in the days of our heroes. Their grip might have crumbled us. To meet a Luther, Spurgeon, Augustine, Athanasius, or the likes of Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Ezra, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Paul — or Jesus himself — would expose us. We love our heroes like many love lions — in the zoo, at a safe distance, on the other side of the glass.
C.S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce, “They that know have grown afraid to speak. That is why sorrows that used to purify now only fester.” In every day of adversity, sorrows fester when men who know the truth grow afraid to speak. When they faint, when they grow weary, hopeless, unwilling, listless, the vulnerable and victimized are not rescued. Evil gains a foothold.
No man longs for small strength. But then again, who among us loves so deeply, believes so fiercely, trusts Christ so unshakably that he will not — cannot — faint with so much at stake? Today, souls will be lost. Today, children will be murdered. Today, Satan launches assaults on the church, and blinds the minds of unbelievers from the glory of Christ. Today is the only day we have — and it, not tomorrow, is the day of salvation.
Will we fight today’s battles? Will we speak, or let sorrows fester? Men of God, we were forged for adversity. We were remade to fight battles, to extend God’s kingdom, to war with devils. Our society, our families, our churches will not survive without us — without men molded for such a time as this.”
—The Safety of Yesterday’s Wars | Greg Morse @ DesiringGod
Entrepreneurship
“Growing up broke was one of the most valuable assets to shape me as a startup Founder. At the time it didn't feel too valuable (it sucked) but I'd come to learn later that it burned specific traits into my behavior that served me insanely well in building startups from scratch.
Many of us have had the same challenges, coming from disadvantaged upbringings that felt like a setback at the time but also became crucibles of learning and adaptation that actually made us far more capable when our skills were put to the test later on.”
—What Founders Learn From Growing Up Broke | Wil Schroter
Productivity
1. Schedule your values - do what's most important.
Wise time management doesn't mean you do more, but do more that matters most.
Values align with priorities
2. Say no to many small things to say yes to several big things.
The barrier of a meaningful life isn't a lack of commitment but overcommitment.
“You can do something” does not mean “you should do something”.
Start a "to-don't" list, rather than a to-do list.
Whenever you say yes to anything, there's less of you for something else. Make sure your yes is worth your less
-Louis Giglio
Reflection Questions:
What do you value that you aren't prioritizing?
What can you put on your to-don't list?
What are you going to change?
—It’s About Time Part 1 | Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast
Weekly Reflections
Reflections to ponder…
Verse of the Week
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”
Challenging Quote
"Do the most important thing first each day and you'll never have an unproductive day."
—James Clear
If you guys have found the newsletter to be helpful, I would love to hear from you on what’s been good, any suggestions for improvement, and anything else you’d like to see!
Please don’t be shy to let me know and thanks in advance!