Four Gifts: Seeking Self-Care for Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

by April Yamasaki

Sarah Bessey's Field Notes Book Club January 2019 Selection



Is self-care different from being selfish or self-indulgent? Is it the same as caring for your soul? And what does self-care look like in light of following Jesus, who called his followers to deny themselves?



In Four Gifts, pastor and author April Yamasaki addresses these and other questions about self-care. Drawing on the ancient scriptural command to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, Yamasaki helps readers think about the spiritual dimensions of attending to your own needs, setting priorities, and finding true rest in a fast-paced world. She weaves together personal stories, biblical and theological insights, questions for reflection, and practical ideas for self-care. Four Gifts helps readers sustain their spirits and balance competing demands. Feeling overwhelmed by the pace and stress of daily life? Find respite from superficial definitions of self-care and move toward deeper engagement with God.



Featured by Focus on the Family Canada

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Self Help, Faith, Christian, Mental Health, Christianity

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

April Yamasaki is a pastor, author, editor, and spiritual formation mentor. She currently serves as Resident Author with a liturgical worship community, edits a daily devotional magazine for the Mennonite Church, continues to write online and in print, and often speaks in churches and other settings.

She is the author of This Ordinary, Extraordinary Life, Sacred Pauses, Four Gifts, and the forthcoming Hope Beyond Our Sorrows.

Her main websites are AprilYamasaki.com, where she shares faith and hope in all the joys, challenges, and ordinary moments of daily life, and WhenYouWorkfortheChurch.com, with a focus on church and ministry. On Substack, she shares reflections on writing as a spiritual journey at Writing and Other Acts of Faith.

Reviews

[Lindsey Gandhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not one to read, or even like, self-help books. Especially religious self-help books. I don't like feeling like I'm being preached at. I go to church on Sunday for sermons. And regular "self-help" style books I find often are really unrealistic in their advice and what you need to do in already super busy life to make things better. So let me go ahead and say this is not a self help book.

I was intrigued by the notion of self-care in a religious sense. That idea goes against everything I feel we are raised to believe in church. You give to others, you do for others, you sacrifice your time and energy for others. Never have I been told to stop and put me first. So I really wanted to read what the author had to say about this. We are all overly busy in our lives, have more than we can handle on our plates. Whether you are a parent, work a full time job or both, there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week to get done what's on your to-do list. This book explores four gifts that come from one of the greatest commandments - "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" and to "love your neighbor as yourself". (Mark 12:30-31). These are gifts you give yourself to enhance your relationship with God and strengthen who you are as an individual.

"Somehow, simplifying my life turns out to be more complicated than I'd hoped. Instead of relieving my already to do list, self care becomes just one more thing to do."

Amen! That is normally how it is. April Yamasaki talks through how you give these gifts to yourself without adding more actions on your already busy day. In fact, she recommends taking things off your list. Learn how to stop saying yes to everything. What an incredible concept! And she interweaves these ideas with real life examples from her life (she walks the talk!) and she does so in a manner where you feel like you are having a conversation with an old friend. It's comfortable, warm, and nourishing to the soul. I enjoyed this book and the concepts it presents.

My thanks to April Yamasaki, Herald Press, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Joy Matteson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book about self-care from a Christian perspective. So often the term "self-care" gets thrown around as we feel guilty about taking time off work, getting a massage, or even just sleeping more hours of the day. Yamasaki's perspective as a pastor and author dives deep into what the term "self-care" means for one's heart, mind, and soul. Also--for Pete sake, a book like this needs to be PRACTICAL! And thankfully, it's bursting with inspiration.
If it only means that the next reader takes a little less guilt in savoring a bath, bike ride, or a glass of wine, I think it's worth the read.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 5 out of 5]

April Yamasaki has blessed us in this wonderful book. Over the past several months, I've stumbled into some of the topics and ideas she writes about, but her phrasing, questions, and room for different experiences gave me helpful categories and ideas for stewarding myself. I really, really appreciated her deep engagement with Scriptural stories like Moses and Jethro, Daniel, and Elijah. That is already helping me read the Scriptures in a new way. I highly recommend this book for Lent.

Some habits I have deliberately started over the past several months are:
- Subscribing to magazines I trust rather than relying on the internet's exhausting 24/7 news cycle
- Taking charge of my screen time thanks to the iPhone feature and StayFocused on Google Chrome
- Prioritizing reading in my lifestyle, because I've learned that it's the most refreshing thing I can do for myself

These habits are all related to my mind. Yamasaki helped me understand that heart, soul, and strength are also essential. Because of this, I'm considering the following habits for self-care:
- Reawakening my pen pal relationships for intentional connection with my many long-distance friends
- Including more prayer (using icons) in my daily practice, since now I use icons as art, which is not their purpose!
- Finding ways to stay connected to the natural world, even in a frigid Midwest winter

I will keep this book handy as I work my way through Stephen Macchia's Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way, which is built on the rule of Benedict. My own rule of life should have some room for myself as I figure out how to order my life for the service of others.

[Cara Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bravo! April Yamasaki gifts us with a book the birch desperately needs (even if she doesn’t yet know it) about the intersection of self-care and soul care.

[Dorothy Greco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yamasaki tackles what I believe is one of the biggest issues of today: our tendency to overwork and the cost to our physical and mental health. April is an experienced pastor who deeply understands the inherent challenges of figuring out how to take care of ourselves while serving others and following Jesus. She presses us as readers to explore the motivation behind our busyness but does so with gentleness and empathy. According to Yamasaki, “We need self-care that can both comfort us when the way is hard and empower us to live with compassion and perseverance.” Four Gifts both encouraged and challenged me. (And I definitely plan to adopt her delightful “I-don’t-do list.”)

[Marian Beaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instead of “Me first,” self care is really “Me too,” a promise to pursue the path of self-care, says author April Yamasaki. With the voice of a pastor and the authority of personal experience, April walks alongside her readers, inviting them to discover a new rhythm for their lives, a new balance. One of her finest pieces of advice, in my opinion, is the suggestion to Stop! Create an I-Don’t-Do List, which may include excessive watching TV, doing Facebook surveys, or going to the gym five times a week when walking some days may suffice. Another piece of advice that caused me a “sacred pause: “I have always thought of self-care as part of my life, not part of my job,” with suggestions to create a healthy work space and set and maintain professional boundaries, among others.

Yamasaki’s well-researched new book is organized into four well-defined units encompassing mind, soul, body and spirit. Each expository chapter begins with examples, both biblical and present-day. For example, Jethro, Moses’ father in law, advised Moses to choose capable people to help settle disputes, so he would not have to go it alone as illustrated in Exodus 18:17-23, wisdom for those in leadership roles in any age.

I found each example, often gleaned from other sources, both humorous and helpful: For instance, in times of lament consider eating from the sad food group, go for a walk, punch a pillow (if you must!), or read from the book of Psalms. The author pointed out one assurance for the believer that resonated especially for me: “Know that the Spirit of God continues to work even as you rest.”

Four Gifts: Seeking Self-Care for Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength offers practical applications at the end of each chapter along with questions for discussion. Thus, it would be an excellent choice for book clubs or ministry groups. Reading in solitude, I found this book nourishing, like a cup of brewed tea, soothing to body and soul. For these reasons and for the high quality of the writing, I give April’s latest book 5 stars.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In an emergency situation, putting on your own oxygen mask first allows you to breathe and think clearly enough to help someone else" (April Yamasaki, Four Gifts, Herald Pres, 2018, 30).

Far from being 'selfish,' appropriate self-care is necessary if we are to become people who flourish and can ably care for those around us. Still, with the demands of life, work, family, ministry, etc., we don't always take care of ourselves. Furthermore, we wonder what self-care looks like for followers of Jesus called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. April Yamasaki describes a holistic approach to self-care in Four Gifts. Utilizing the terms, "heart," "soul," "mind" and "strength"—words we most often associate with the love of God in Jesus's version of the Shema (Mark 12:30). She describes what it means for us to care for total well-being, our spiritual well-being, our mental well-being, and our physical well-being.

April Yamasaki is an Asian-Canadian Mennonite Pastor, speaker, and author. She is a fellow alumnus of Regent College, in Vancouver, Canada, though our time there did not overlap. I first became aware of her through her blog (www.aprilyamasaki.com) and occasional interactions on my blog and on social media. She is also a member and contributor of the Redbud Writers Guild (a collective of women faith writers online), whose previous book,  Everbloom (Paraclete Press, 2017).  I reviewed, which Yamasaki contributed to. I've known  her to be a wise and gracious presence online, and she has encouraged me on my own faith journey.

Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength are the organizational motif and so the book divides naturally into these four sections. In the "Heart" section, Yamasaki describes our care for our total well-being. She instructs us to review our core commitments, establish appropriate boundaries, cultivate a community which will sustain us, and invest in relationships. In the "Soul" section she explores what it means to care for our spirits, through devotional practices, Sabbath, lament, and self-discipline. In the "Mind" section she details how to mind our focus, our digital worlds, our mental health, and what it means to renew our mind. In the "Strength" section she surveys ways to care for our physical well-being (e.g. exercise, healthy sleep habits, and good food choices).

This is the sort of book that straddles the line between being a book about spiritual disciplines and being a "self-help" book. My standing critique of both genres is how individualistic their advice often is. However, Yamasaki tempers her personal advice by highlighting the context of community, as part of appropriate self-care.  In chapter 3, she uses the story of Jethro's counsel to Moses and the Early Church's appointment of deacons to properly care for widows(Exodus 18, Acts 6) to illustrate both our need  for other people's support if we are to thrive, and to illustrate how appropriate self-care means we sometimes need to challenge systems and structures that are destructive of our personhood:

As in the time of Moses and in the early church, we need social and structural change. We may not have the power of Moses to singlehandedly change the system, or the collective power of the twelve apostles to restructure a community. But we need the practical wisdom of Jethro and the openness of Moses to listen. We need the nondefensive posture and the willingness to act that was shown by the early leaders of the church. We need good questions, sustained engagement, ongoing action, and vigorous prayer (54-55).

By including the notion of systemic change in her notion of community, Yamasaki makes self-care as being so much more than self-indulgence but instead sees it as a step toward the work of social change.

Dismantling racism and sexism, ending poverty, and addressing other social ills requires ongoing work, determination, prayer, and yes, self-care. We need self-care that genuinely cares for ourselves and our deepest needs without isolating us from the needs of others. We need self-care that refreshes and validates us for our work in the world without it becoming our permanent destination. We need self-care that can both comfort us when the way is hard and empower us to live with compassion and perseverance (55).

Also, her including space for lament in self-care lends itself to the work of justice in the world beyond ourselves. By attending to the areas of hurt, grief, and brokenness in u,s we can move forward and channel our lament into seeking change.  We are motivated to "cry out for justice. Challenge the status quo. Find allies, and consult with professional advisers as needed" (102). This is a refreshing movement in a book about self-care!

But one of the things that I really liked about Yamasaki's book was the overall graciousness of her tone. A 'self-help' book would tell you what you are supposed to do. A self-care book like this one doesn't prescribe so much as cultivate our awareness of what we need to attend to, to best care for our well-being. Yamasaki offers no hard-and-fast rules. She describes self-care in her introduction:

For me, self-care has been a deep breath and sacred pause, a meandering walk along the waterfront, the New York Times crossword on a Sunday afternoon, a dish of stir-fried rice with greens and almonds after too many days of dairy products have made me feel tired and weighed down.

Self-care means taking all my vacation days even through 43 percent of my fellow working Canadians don't take all of theirs. It means keeping an off-and-on journal, with page after page of random thoughts, poems, and prayers when the mood strikes—and page after page of blanks when it doesn't. Self-care as journaling and not-journaling means I'm free to write or doodle or ignore the empty pages at any time. (16).

Yamasaki's understanding of self-care as being gracious with herself is what hooked me from the start. And she allows space for each of us to appropriate whatever we may need in her discussion of self-care. For example, her chapter on relationships ends with this encouragement, "If working at relationships sounds too busy to be self-care, give yourself permission to take a sacred pause. Rest in the knowledge that God is with you" (67). She also notes that little indulgences (e.g. a Netflix binge, within limits, a night of fast food, comfort food, etc) may be exactly what constitutes self-care. This is not The Seven Habits of the Anal Retentive Soul. This is a book designed to help us care for ourselves in the midst of the demands of life.

And Yamasaki's life is in these pages. She describes medical and vocational worries in her family life and how she learned to care for herself. I heartedly recommend this book -★★★★★

Notice of material connection: I received a copy of this book from the author and publisher as part of the book launch team, in exchange for my honest review.

[Katie Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical, enjoyable, and an easy read. She shares a lot of simple advice and many of her own stories. A good read to start off the year.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I wanted a book on self-care. I'm not good at normal self-care things (exercise, eating well, getting enough sleep, hair cuts, manicures, blah, blah, blah), and I don't need something else on my schedule. And I don't need anything else that makes me feel like I'm not keeping up with what I should be keeping up on.

At the same time, I've learned to trust April Yamasaki's approach to things like spiritual disciplines, and she never made me feel guilty.

I was right to trust her. Her transparency and willingness to be vulnerable, to acknowledge the difficulty in striking a balance between self-care and love for others, was refreshing. She breaks down self-care and boundaries with scripture, personal narratives, and questions that can be answered independently or in a group.

I read this as part of my morning readings, and every day offered insight in how to approach my busy days. I am sorry to finish the book, but this is a book I will return to.

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

April's book arrived at just the right time in my life (ironically a few days later I received an email in my inbox from another author I follow urging me to join her "Revolt against 'Crazy Busy.'" Seems like God has a sense of humour, doesn't it? I'm an avid reader of self-care books and very much an advocate of its practices to anyone in ministry, but I also always need a constant reminder that it isn't just enough to know the practices, but to actually follow through with them. Yamsaki gave me just the motivation I needed with her practical suggestions at the end of the chapter urging me to make just one small simple change a day. Even something as easy as turning my cell phone off at night or not looking at it first thing in the morning. Usually the self-care books I've read center just around the physical or mental benefits of saying no and having boundaries, but I've never encountered a book that ties together all four aspects of our lives (heart, soul, mind, and strength) in such a profound way. All of April's examples stem from a wide-knowledge of Scripture and she acts as a friend and couch rather than as the traditional "therapist" that seems to be the bane of many other manuals. I love Yamsaki's writing for it's pastoral sensitivity coupled with it's grace and fueled by it's intellectual wisdom. A delightful read and a gem to add to any self-care collection. For a more in-depth review please visit my blog: https://debdebbarak.wordpress.com/201...

[Janet James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another inspirational work from April. This writer continues to amaze me, all of her books are really something to watch out for. The only setback is her biased love for Christianity. I prefer books that add equal weight to each religion or doesn't really consider only one of them to be supreme. Never the less, if you are not like me then it is a sure shot five star rating material!

[Carrie Kann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #1 of my "Spiritual Formation Books from Minority Authors" series.

I appreciated a different and spiritually thoughtful approach to self-care. It's more than bubble baths and pedicures.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

”…(T)his book explores four gifts drawn from the words of Jesus to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’ and to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ (Mark 12:30-31, emphasis added). These four gifts offer a framework of self-card that includes (1) our total well-being, represented by the hear; (2) our spiritual well-being, represented by the soul; (3) our mental well-being, represented by the mind;(4) our physical well-being represented by strength.”

I joined a Facebook book club this year. It has been put together by Sarah Bessey (https://sarahbessey.com/) whose books I like. I thought that this reading would be a good change from some of the books I have read in the last few years. So far, this seems like a good choice.

Bessey picked books that are focused on spiritual formation that are written in the voices of women and/or black, indigenous, and POC writers. Hopefully I will review each of title as the months progress. (My shelf for these books is field notes – you can search that to find all 12 titles.)

We started with this book by Yamasaki. I found it to be interesting. She uses her own life to illustrate the pluses and minuses of self-care. I found her use of Biblical references to be especially useful and sometimes thought-provoking. I have always thought of the phrase “love your neighbor as yourself” to be a sign that self-care is a reasonable approach to life. Yamasaki gave me some new things to think about this phrase.

She also made me more conscious of how the digital world has changed the way we care for ourselves, especially in terms of mental care. The whole chapter made me think about mental health and social media.

One of my favorite sections was chapter seven, called The Soul’s Lament. I had not seen lament through the same lens as Yamasaki does. I am grateful for her insights.

All in all, if you are female and a Christian, you might want to pick this book up. Not everything in the text is likely to be new to you. However, Yamasaki has put together an overview of self-care that would be helpful to many. This book would also be a good study guide for a small group.

I look forward to seeing what other subjects Yamasaki will choose to write about in her future books. Thanks to the Field Notes Book Club and this book, I am already reading Yamasaki’s blog on a regular basis.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a gift this book was. Reading it coincided with Lent and I didn’t realize how much I would need this book during this year’s Lent.

There’s so much self-help out there, and in an culture where we prioritize the individual, self-care is a buzzword. Bur it is refreshing to read a book about self-care that considers our spiritual well-being with a Christ-centred focus. This book removes some of the guilt associated with caring for yourself as a Christian. It is a must-read for anyone looking to find balance and care as they seek to follow Jesus with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

[Rosalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

April has written a practical book that is woven together with her own life experience, interesting and relevant scripture references, and loads of research. I can easily hear her gentle voice as I read her wise words. One of my favourite paragraphs is this:

"Dismantling racism and sexism, ending poverty, and addressing other social ills requires ongoing work, determination, prayer and yes, self-care. We need self-care that genuinely care for ourselves and our deepest needs without isolating us from the needs of others. We need self-care that refreshes and validates for our work in the world without it becoming our permanent destination. We need self-care that can both comfort us when the way is hard, AND empower us to live with compassion and perseverance."

Out of the four sections, heart, soul, mind and strength (based on Jesus' words in Mark 12:30-31), I particularly enjoyed heart and soul. Our church study/care group are reading this book together and as leader, I'm finding the intermittent questions helpful for discussion. It has been enriching to look at self-care through a Christian lens.

[Rachel | All the RAD Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this one for Sarah Bessey’s Field Notes Book Club (sign up for her email newsletter!) and have to say, I sadly was underwhelmed by it. I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t really connect with the writing style (it felt super direct and not very personal, and I just didn’t really resonate or find it engaging). There are helpful thoughts here about self-care (focusing on heart, soul, mind, and strength as in Mark 12:30) that go beyond just massages and bubble baths into things like healthy boundaries, sleep, etc. Not a must-read, but definitely helpful for those needing to work out a better balance of loving God and others while still taking care of self.

[Michele Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Four Gifts: Seeking Self-care for Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength, April Yamasaki opens her own life to self-care scrutiny and examines Scripture's claims about the abundant life alongside biblical promises of God's care for those who believingly follow Him.  To my great relief, Yamasaki frames self-care with a bigger vision than manicures and a daily green smoothie, as she encourages readers to receive the gifts that flow from the first great commandment:

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  (Mark 12:30)

Caring for You. Caring for Others.
The busy-ness of life in all its demanding seasons can lead to habits that could best be described as self-neglect. Conversely, culture screams messages that make a virtue of self-indulgence:  "I deserve this." I have had a tendency to read messages about self-care as burdensome checklists, one more item on an already too-full list of things to do.

The abundant life involves caring for your own needs, caring for others, and surrendering to the call of God. There is freedom to be found in the "healthy tension" (188) between loving ourselves well and also being fully available to our neighbor. In Four Gifts, April invites readers into a purposeful pursuit of healthy living according to God's design in ways that are both challenging and realistic:

1. Self-Care Leaves Space to Honor Your Core Commitments
Just as the heart "represents the center of our physical, mental, and spiritual being," (221) each of us has "core commitments" that direct our daily actions. Mine are shaped around marriage, mothering and grandmothering, homeschooling, writing, and church ministries. Because your commitments are different from mine, the parameters of  our self-care regimens will look very different.

"Self-care that honors core commitments might be delayed or postponed or after the fact, but it's still self-care even if it sometimes seems to come in second." (234)

2.  Self-Care Begins with Learning How to Stop
For me, self-care is mostly about knowing when to stop, and this came into sharp focus as I read about Jesus's embrace of healthy boundaries and New Testament directives to the early church that clearly distinguish "between being weighed down and being focused on following Jesus." The Hebrews 12 "weight" that interferes with the believer's race can often be the tasks we take on that are not really ours to do.

3.  Self-Care Leaves Room for a Listening Life
In the rush of life, I often catch myself half-listening to people, tuning out their story to conserve mental energy, or failing to set aside the task at hand in order to meet the eyes of my dearest people while they speak. When Jesus was being quizzed by the religious elite, pressed into choosing the most important commandment of all, His answer began with the word Listen!

“The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’No other commandment is greater than these.”  (Mark 12:28-31)

Taking time to listen to God, to hear the words of Scripture from a thoughtful stance, to listen to my own aging body, and to slow down and hear the messages coming through the words of the people I love are all forms of self-care that minister to the whole person and also ripple into a family or a community.

4.  Self-Care Frees the Soul for Sabbath Rest
April Yamasaki is a ministry professional, and she manages a website called When You Work for the Church. Her perspective on Sabbath rest includes first-hand knowledge that Sunday is often the busiest and most stressful day of the week. It turns out that most of us have a much too narrow definition of Sabbath-keeping. The rest and rejuvenation that come with it are "sometimes a by-product but not the primary purpose. The primary biblical purpose . . . is to put away the idol of control and power." (766) If I can address this issue at its core, suddenly other pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Turning off my phone or taking a nap or postponing an errand to another day can become an offering in which I kick myself out of the center of the universe, a fruit of self-discipline in which I say no to the habit of accomplishment and yes to the habit of quiet or rest.

At its core, then, self-care may be uncomfortable. It may push me to honor limits I've become accustomed to pushing through, to utter a few well-placed "nos" that feel as if I'm squandering opportunities, to admit that I need help rather than forging ahead on my own. God's four gifts of heart, soul, mind, and strength come with the expectation of a graceful stewarding of those gifts, a responsibility that takes practice--and a privilege that comes with the following life as we lean on Jesus for each step in the right direction.

Many thanks to Herald Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.

[Dani K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciated this book and the blend of practical and theological focus on self-care. I’ve read various articles about self-care and this is my first book all about self-care. I like the comprehensive approach to all parts of self - soul, heart, mind, and strength. I also appreciate the focus on self-care as part of faith in God to care for us and empowering us to continue serving and loving others. I also found helpful the reflective questions at the end of sections and the tips at the end of chapters.

The reason I put it at 4 instead of 5 stars is some of the chapters seemed less in-depth or I didn’t find super insightful or practical (like the chapter on food). Also parts of the book are pretty specific to this current time, and may get outdated in a few years. But overall I really enjoyed this book and found a lot of practical advice and theology for the importance of self-care. I plan to go back to some ideas, questions and suggestions to apply over time.

[Afton Rorvik · Rating 5 out of 5]

April Yamasaki writes honestly about her own struggle in balancing faith in God with self-care. She asks the question a lot of Christians ask: "Isn’t self-care selfish? "

She thoughtfully addresses self-care from four vantage points: heart, soul, mind, and strength. Within each chapter she offers theological insights as well as practical insights. One of my favorites is her "I-don’t-do" list. Every chapter ends with action steps or ideas to ponder, making this a great resource for small groups.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent first choice for Sarah Bessey's Field Notes Book Club. My 2019 resolutions already center around self-care, Sabbath, and Hygge, so this was perfect. Yamasaki didn't really teach me anything I didn't already know; but, she did make it succinct and doable. So, I will continue to make self-care a regular practice realizing that my self-care needs may change from day to day. Above all, I won't do guilt! God gives me permission to take care of myself with a special commission to love God and love others as myself.

[Sharla Fritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four Gifts is a virtual clinic for self-care. April Yamasaki opens the door and gently invites us in to a life of caring for our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. She reminds us that this clinic is not a destination in itself but a place for renewal that enables us to continue to serve our God and our neighbors. I found myself wanting to revisit this clinic often, both for the encouragement to take the time for self-care and for the valuable tools she has provided to put it into practice.

[Rachel Hafler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good biblical look at self-care and striking a balance between overworking and selfishness. The ideas are basic and nothing that I hadn't heard before, but I appreciated the concise and simple way that Yamasaki presents self-care. The reflection questions throughout and action steps at the end of each chapter really helped the concepts feel accessible. *Sarah Bessey's book club brought me here!

[Tami Groth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first “self help” book that I plan to return to again and again not only for helpful reminders as I continue to digest this book, but also for ongoing meditations to center my prayer time. I am also looking forward to rereading and discussing this book with small groups in the future.

I find Yamasaki’s approach to be both authentic and empathetic as she identifies with our challenges in sustaining our self care even as we strive to live our Christian faith.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical, thoughtful, heartfelt ways to care for yourself

April Yamasaki writes not from mere knowledge but from experience. It is clear from her reflections that she has made self care a priority in her life and she does so in a holistic way we could all learn from. This book is well researched and full of ideas for ways we can practice self care in heart, soul, mind,and strength.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d give this 3.5 stars. This book ties in the biblical concept of loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and uses that as a framework to view how to take care of ourselves so that we can be healthy inside and out and serve others. Self-care is not selfish but allows us to live a fuller life. I can’t say there was anything groundbreaking in the book, but it was a unique way to explore the topic.

[Rachel Cocar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful resource for clergy who are trying to balance the many demands of ministry. Self-care is a term I’ve heard a lot about but am not so good at practicing. Yamasaki gives great suggestions for incorporating self-care into every aspect of your life. I will definitely be returning to this book again and again as I implement her ideas!

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy read and a good for the beginning of a new year. It's a whole/holistic approach to taking care of yourself--an important concept in our harried world. And I especially liked that it covered the physical and intellectual, the spiritual and emotional aspects of who we are as image bearers of God.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book, and a suitable one with which to begin the new year. The thing I like most about this book is the way Yamasaki ends each chapter with some thoughts/advice/questions to provoke further thinking and action.

[Lanelle King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book had a very balanced perspective on healthy self care.

[Donna Kirik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy read on taking care of yourself in every aspect of your life.