All Work and No Play Makes Debbie Eat Chocolate

I've been working feverishly on my new book manuscript, Too Blessed to Stay Stressed, and have been struggling to find down time. In that vein of thought, I'd like to share an excerpt from Grit for the Oyster: 250 Pearls of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers about the importance of taking a break.

The following is from my chapter, "Making Time for a Cyber Sabbath."

When I worked at McDonalds as a teenager, I got so overdosed with the smells and sight of fast food that when I was off duty, the last thing I wanted was a burger or fries. Somehow the writing profession doesn't work that way. The more we write, the more we want to write; the more we need to write.

It's an addiction. The computer absorbs more and more of our attention. We become cyber-junkies.

Writing evolves into not just five days a week, but gradually six, then seven. The "I'll only be a few more minutes" we tell our kids turns into two hours. They finally give up.

As demanding as Jesus' life was, He still managed to find a quiet place for rest and prayer. And none of us have work that is more important than Jesus'! Our weekly respites, like His, can provide renewed perspective, regeneration of energy, and time to invest in the lives of those most precious to us.