The Art of the Intermittent Reset: Healing from Burnout When You Can’t Take a Sabbatical
- Chief Joy Activator
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Hi Dear Friend. Take a deep breath. Drop your shoulders.
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
Let me ask you a heart-to-heart question: Is your heart weary? Is your soul tired? Is your body worn out?
I’m not just talking about the kind of tired that a good night's sleep can fix. I’m talking about that deep, bone-weary, leadership-induced exhaustion. You want a full, three-month sabbatical—Lord knows you need one—but reality says you can’t just step away from your responsibilities right now.
Here is the good news: You don’t need a massive block of time to start healing.
I know that burnout feeling all too well! February 2024 at the end of Godly Woman & Company's first Retreat, I crashed. Not from the retreat but the activities leading up to while I was an MFT student and a Seminary student, working full-time, managing home, life, and ministry...wooo!
The burnout was real and I needed silence, quiet, stillness. I could only manage a few days away to be alone with God. The best decision ever. The healing was not in the number of days away but what I did with the time I had.
The secret to recovering from burnout isn’t found in the number of days you spend away from the hustle and bustle. The secret is in the quality of what you do when you step away for just a moment. You can indulge in intermittent heart healing right where you are. I'd like to share with you how I replenish my energy and sustain the joy of the Lord in the midst of high and low seasons.
If you have a long weekend or a few days of PTO, here is how you can intentionally use that time to let the Holy Spirit restore your soul.
Your 4-Day Spirit and Soul Care Blueprint
A Quick Note Before You Begin: Do not rush this process. If you get stuck on Day 1 for the entire duration of your time off, that is perfectly okay. Let the Holy Spirit lead the pace.
📍 Day 1: Reflect & Grieve
Today is not about "fixing" anything; it’s about feeling. To heal the heart, you have to let it pour out.
The Action: Seriously, really grieve.
How to do it: Get out your journal, take a long walk on the beach (or anywhere in nature), cry without shame, and pray.
The Focus: Talk to God with raw honesty about your disappointments, your hurts, your heartaches, and your uncertainties. He can handle your vulnerability.
Scripture to Meditate On: "Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children..." — Lamentations 2:19 " The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." — Psalm 34:18
📍 Day 2: Reconnect & Acknowledge
In the midst of showing up for everyone else, leading and running businesses, and managing households, it is incredibly easy to lose yourself.
The Action: Reconnect with the little "you" who got lost in the hustle of doing.
How to do it: Write a letter to yourself. Acknowledge that you haven’t been paying attention to her. Invite her to share her passions, her dreams, and what she truly desires from the Lord.
The Focus: Affirm who you are outside of what you produce. Accept your need to show up for yourself. Finish the day with worship, praise, and a quiet walk.
Scripture to Meditate On: "He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." — Psalm 23:3
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..." — Jeremiah 1:5
📍 Day 3: Renew & Realign
True renewal isn't just behavior modification; God wants a total heart realignment.
The Action: Embrace a deep commitment to change.
How to do it: Journal through the things God has revealed to you over the last 48 hours—the habits, behaviors, or toxic thought patterns that need to shift.
The Focus: Write down what you are faithing rather than faking. Start with your mindset. Choose to think Biblically about everything, starting with any core beliefs you may have compromised along the way.
Scripture to Meditate On: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." — Romans 12:2
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." — Psalm 51:10
📍 Day 4: Reset & Restart
We serve a God of many chances, sis. There is absolutely no condemnation here. This final day is about shifting your posture from doing to being.
The Action: Step into your full, authentic, godly self in Christ. Unapologetic, and running high on the Holy Spirit—not running on "E."
How to do it: Create a sustainable, holistic care plan. Write down one activity for each of these areas that you can commit to consistently:
Spiritual Practice: (e.g., 10 minutes of silent prayer)
Physical Activity: (e.g., a daily afternoon stretch or walk)
Emotional/Mental Care: (e.g., weekly journaling or therapy)
Relational Care: (e.g., a monthly coffee date with a safe friend)
Scripture to Meditate On: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." — Romans 8:1
"But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." — Isaiah 40:31
Make Your PTO Count
Dear Sister, let's start using our "time-off" for deep heart restoration and realignment. Let's make our PTO count for true self-care: spirit, soul, and somatic (body) care. Oh, by the way... you can get away with friends and still work on your intermittent self-care. We had a great time and can't wait to go again! So, plan that get-away and remember to take this blueprint with you...do some heart work and come back restored and realigned to the Lord.
You cannot pour from an empty cup, your cannot hear from the Lord if your soul is wandering and weary all the time, and you cannot lead effectively if your heart is fractured.
Take the moment. Heal intermittently. Choose to Live FREE!
I love you!
Kate "Your Chief Joy Activator"
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