Whatever Is Excellent with Leanne Tuggle
Encouragement and Inspiration for women choosing to rise above the “just survive” mentality and instead set their mind on thriving in all that they say and do. The ultimate goal is to equip you to pursue whatever is excellent in the midst of your ordinary life and in all that you say and do.
Whatever Is Excellent with Leanne Tuggle
29: From Exhaustion to Wholeness - Rhythms of Work and Rest
The moment I collapsed from exhaustion at my high school homecoming dance should have been my wake-up call. As a determined overachiever balancing academics, ballet, relationships, and faith, I had created an unsustainable rhythm that left me physically depleted. That night, friends caught me before I hit the floor – a perfect snapshot of how disordered patterns of work and rest can literally bring us to our knees.
What I've discovered since then has transformed my understanding of productivity and rest. Work isn't a punishment – it existed in Eden before sin entered the world. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden "to work it and watch over it," giving them purposeful, meaningful tasks as part of paradise. Likewise, rest isn't an indulgence but a divine pattern established by God himself, who rested on the seventh day and declared it holy.
Our modern struggle with balance often stems from self-imposed pressure amplified by technology. We feel compelled to respond to work messages at all hours, convinced our success depends on constant availability. Yet when I finally established proper boundaries after having twins, I discovered I could still be successful without sacrificing my family or burning myself out. The key was challenging the assumption that productivity equals worth and embracing Jesus's invitation: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Ready to find better rhythms in your home? Start by setting clear boundaries between work and family time. Consider establishing a weekly Sabbath, even if it's just an afternoon of intentional rest. Look for small moments of renewal throughout your day. Remember – rest isn't laziness but a profound act of faith, acknowledging that God is God and you are not. What would change if you trusted Him with both your productivity and your rest this week?
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I was in high school when I first learned of the negative effects of disordered rhythms of work and rest. It was my senior year and I was at the homecoming dance. It was actually the first school dance that I had ever been to, because I was usually too busy to do anything as frivolous as attend school dances. You see, I had plans, goals, ambitions. I was determined to be valedictorian and earn scholarships for college. I had plans to be an accomplished ballet dancer and I was eager to be an exemplary daughter, student, sister, friend, babysitter, dancer, teenager and Christian. Basically, I was crushing it as the best possible version of myself, and I was also very sick, as in. I was so burnt out with doing all of those things that I was barely standing up at this homecoming dance. My body was literally holding on by a thread, and any of the visual signs of being run down and overworked I simply ignored and pushed just a little bit harder Until I got to this dance, connected with a bunch of friends, and then almost immediately fainted from utter and complete exhaustion. Thankfully, the boyfriend of one of my dearest friends caught me before I hit the floor and together they walked me outside for some fresh air and an intervention. It was clear in that moment that I couldn't keep going like this. Something needed to change, and I have a picture from that night to prove it All the smiling faces in the photo. And then there's me looking wider than a ghost and a shell of who God created me to be. I wish I could tell you that I learned my lesson that night. I did go home early and I did sleep all weekend long, but by Monday I was right back to my usual hustle and grind. The truth is, we were made for a rhythm of work and a rhythm of rest. God created both work and rest, and while we were made to work, we were also created to need rest. In this episode, we are going to unpack the biblical foundation for work and rest. We will also look at why the struggle is real when it comes to finding balance between work and rest, and we will look at some of the practical ways that you can create a healthy rhythm in your home.
Leanne:One of the best aha moments that I have experienced as a believer is that work existed before sin entered the world. As someone who honestly loves to work, I know I'm kind of crazy. I was delighted to make this connection while reading through the Bible for the first time as a young adult. Genesis 2.15 says the Lord took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the garden and then gave them meaningful, important work to do before the apple was eaten or the fruit. Before sin entered the world, work existed and work was good. It wasn't until after the fall or after sin entered the world that this work became hard and burdensome.
Leanne:Work as God designed. It existed before this and I believe it will continue to exist, even when we are spending eternity with God. In essence, we were made to work. Your work is from God and for others and for others. Work allows you to love and serve others in a way that glorifies God, the creator of the world. Colossians 3.23 says whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people. It is also part of God's original design for us to rest Again in Genesis 2, 1 through 3, it says so.
Leanne:The heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed, and on the seventh day God had completed his work and he rested on the seventh day from all of the work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all of his work. Right from the beginning, god was modeling his best for us the perfect balance between work and rest. I love how Justin Whitmill Early phrases it in his book the Common Rule. He says focusing and finishing are two great glories of work. You know that feeling of deep work when you get to be completely focused on a task, and then that satisfied and complete feeling when you finish the work and you get to put it all away. I think that is exactly what God had in mind when he gave us the seventh day for rest. In fact, god was so serious about this balance of work and rest he included it in the Ten Commandments.
Leanne:Exodus 20, 8 through 11 says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You are to labor six days and do all of your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything in both, important to God, to God. So then, why do we struggle so much to keep work and rest in their proper places? I don't know if we can blame our cell phones or our smartphones, but for sure access to everything all the time doesn't help with our mission to balance work and rest. Somewhere along the way, we have placed a pressure on ourselves to always be productive. I know this pressure was definitely what I was experiencing at 17 years old.
Leanne:No-transcript. You can read emails and texts from work at any moment, but just because you can doesn't mean that you should or that you are expected to respond right away. We make the assumption that we have to respond immediately, or that we have to check off all of the tasks on our to-do list in order to count the day as a win. Off all of the tasks on our to-do list in order to count the day as a win. And yet I challenge you to consider says who? If you stop to really think about the answer to that question, I am willing to bet that the person who says so is you. Is you?
Leanne:When I first started dabbling in sales and entrepreneurship, I really struggled with this. I mean, clearly I didn't learn anything from my high school years. I believed that in order to be successful, I needed to be ready to respond at any moment and if I missed a message while like sleeping, let's say I was certain that that opportunity was lost. It wasn't until God gave me twins that I fully realized the pace I had set for myself simply wasn't sustainable and my priorities were no longer aligned with God's best.
Leanne:For me, the worst part about it all was that my family was suffering from. They were suffering the most from my workaholic tendencies. It wasn't until I started challenging myself by asking says who? That I realized I was capable of setting better boundaries for my work. And guess what happened? When I set those realistic and healthy boundaries, I was still successful. I still got things done. The only difference was that my family time didn't get lost in the process. I also didn't get as burnt out. I learned to be thoughtful about what work needs to be done and what can be left for later. Yes, focusing and finishing are the best when it comes to work. Prioritizing the things that matter most are also important, and sometimes that means work is left unfinished so that you can rest.
Leanne:The other lesson I learned through this season of physical, emotional and spiritual burnout was how self-reliant I had become. I relied entirely on my own strength to get everything done instead of trusting God with my productivity as a highly capable person. It is so easy to fall into this trap. You can handle a lot on your own, and so you keep doing all of the things simply because you can. And yet just because you can doesn't mean you should. Jesus says in Matthew 11, 28-30, come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. It is helpful to remember that you are not what you do and you do not have to earn your keep in this world. I know I need to hear that. I honestly wish someone had told me that when I was 17. Perhaps it would have saved me some painful lessons. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced I would have listened back then. Some things you just have to learn the hard way.
Leanne:Your work is purposeful and important. When you are faithful to keep work in its proper place, whether your work is in an office or in your home, you get to work and you get to rest. Both are good, both are necessary. Rest is a reminder that God is God and you are not. Rest is an opportunity to fully trust God, to know that the world will keep spinning even if you take a break. That's humbling, to fully understand. I finally realized the beauty of rest when I understood that I didn't have anything to prove to anyone anymore, including myself. Jesus, my Savior, said it is finished. You and I can rest in our identity as beloved children of God. True rest is the fruit of faith, trust and glorious surrender.
Leanne:So how can you practically create a healthy rhythm of both work and rest in your home? I have three ideas for you. The first is to set boundaries for both work and rest. Be intentional with your work and equally intentional with family and rest time. And equally intentional with family and rest time. For example, the work that I do for creating this podcast or writing newsletters happens when my children are at school. When they were smaller, I used to do any work while they napped. Then the work is put away so that I can be present with my children, which is another type of work, and when there is still work to be done around the house, like folding laundry or making dinner, I can do these things alongside my children and model what rhythms of work and rest look like.
Leanne:Second thing is to set up a Sabbath or specific periods of rest. This will look different in every home and will change depending on what season of life you are in. In our home, sundays are a day of rest or a family day. We don't schedule anything other than going to church together as a family, and then in the afternoon we enjoy two hours of screen-free rest time in our separate sections of the house. I personally use this time to read. While my husband uses the time to read or maybe prepare for work, my children read or play in their rooms. This time of rest allows us to come back together feeling refreshed and ready for what God has in store for us in the next week. And, as you can hear, it's two hours of rest time in the afternoon, not necessarily the whole day, although the day is set aside for family time and more restful activities.
Leanne:The third thing is to find rest in small moments. This might include going for a nature walk or spending some time journaling. My husband and I like to swap responsibilities on the weekends. He finds rest in cooking dinner for our family, and I find rest in not cooking. Abraham Heschel says a man who works with his mind should Sabbath with his hands, and a man who works with his hands should Sabbath with his mind. So that's something that my husband and I have taken into consideration. We do the opposite of what is our usual. He really enjoys cooking and doesn't get to do it a lot. During the week that responsibility falls to me, and on the weekends I love to give him that opportunity to cook and I rest by not having to do that. So if there is something like that that you can swap with your spouse, you may consider it. It might actually be very restful, even though to some it is still considered work.
Leanne:Putting this simple suggestion into practice can be a way to rest while still sort of working, but in a different way. The truth that I have gleaned since that homecoming dance is that rest allows you to be more productive and creative. I used to believe the lie that more work or harder work would lead to better results. Now I see that trusting God with my work and my rest allows him to multiply my efforts, and I get to see how he stands in the gap for me. It is amazing to know that I cannot do it all and to see how God makes it happen, not in my strength, but in his. That is such a blessing, and the only way you get to experience that is to surrender.
Leanne:Jesus even tells his disciples to rest in Mark 6 31. He says come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while. Even though they were doing ministry, even though everything that they were doing was loving and serving others, he even recommended that they rest, and I think that is especially important for the mothers out there who are listening. Even you need rest. Rest in this way is a tool for greater fruitfulness, not laziness. Your faithfulness to keep work and rest in their proper places makes all the difference when it comes to the rhythms in your home. To close this episode, I want to encourage you to evaluate the rhythms in your own home. Are there any changes that need to take place? Is there a way that you can be more intentional with your work this week? Do you need to prioritize rest?
Leanne:This passage from 1 Peter 5, 6-9 came to my mind as I was working on this episode. It says this Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on Him because he cares about you. Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of suffering are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
Leanne:The enemy would like nothing more than to keep us either working all the time so that we don't humble ourselves and lean on God, or resting to the point of laziness and no longer being alert. You can resist these schemes of the enemy by casting your cares on Jesus. You can lay the rhythms of your home at his feet and seek his wisdom and guidance for what work and rest can look like for you and for your family. Work and rest are both from God, and the good news is that he is faithful to help us keep them both in their proper places. What a joy it is to trust our Savior.