Welcome! We’ve created a Special Series for you this month! We’ll
take 4 weeks and focus on 4 elements to ‘Reset’ our lives for Him.
We’re calling it ’4×4 Reset’. If you missed the introduction, you
can find more details here. Each post will feature a READ IT
(scripture verse), a SEE IT (motivation), & a DO IT (challenge/
call to action). Our 4×4 Reset Toolbox is available and has links
to all the posts and to our resources, including our Build a Firm
Foundation Printable tracking page. Be sure to subscribe to not
miss a day, & join us on Twitter & Instagram using our hashtag
#4x4Reset!

How Jon Acuff might just have saved my sanity

Read It:

Read this post by Jon Acuff.

I am serious.  I set it up to open in a new tab, so you won’t miss anything here.  But if you click over, what you read there  may just change your life.

You see– I am a full time music teacher.  During the summer, I was enjoying my family, teaching a few music lessons here and there, and avoiding the grocery store.  The three weeks that my son had a summer school program in the mornings requiring clothing that was not just pajamas before 7:30 in the morning felt busy.

Do you think my full-time back to school schedule was a rude awakening?

Yes.  Yes, it was.

I would barely have the boys (one first grader, one two year old) put to bed, when I would have to be thinking about making lunches for the next, and writing lesson plans, and brainstorming solutions to the never-ending problems. By the time I had even accomplished half of one thing on my list of urgents, it was time to go to sleep to ensure that I had enough energy to face the same thing the next day.

(Important note:  I absolutely love my job.  This year has just started out with more issues than I ever recall having to deal with in the beginning of the school year.)

It’s funny — I read that post by Jon Acuff and knew it would be a great fit for the 4×4 Reset series.  I even volunteered to write the post for it.  But it wasn’t until after school started again that I realized just how crucial the concept of finding my own Central Park really was.  I haven’t found it yet.  Maybe it is because for me it is never just one thing that helps me regain my calm.  Sometimes it is a favorite CD of piano music.  Sometimes it is sitting on my porch rocking chair, smelling the breeze.  Sometimes it is intentionally remembering that the God who created the Universe is with me, at every moment.

Whatever your situation, stresses, baggage or issues, sometimes all we need to do is take some time to reconnect with the presence of God.  Whether it is art journaling, like Christine showed us,  peaceful music, or communing with nature, there is  a way to reclaim the sanity we remember so fondly.

See it:

Central Park, lovely in the fall (image credit)

DO IT:

Make a list of all of the things you love to do.  Go through the list, and mark which ones leave you refreshed and rejuvenated.  Write the new list out, and keep it with you.  Write it multiple places — on your computer screen, or somewhere on your desk; on your bathroom mirror; in your wallet; in your car.  Having them in front of you in many places will help you to remember to use them before we have a major melt-down and make everyone in our lives worry about us.   Ahem.