Rest

A few days ago, I wrote about rest on my own blog, and based on the response, I thought I might revisit it today...here.

As you might imagine, Ryan and I don't get a lot of rest. And we can't even blame it on the kids because we don't have any. {So we give much credit to those of you who keep our kind of schedule AND have kids in the mix.}

We commute. We are still trying to sell a house, which means we are currently maintaining two. Both of us work weekends sometimes {often for him} with our jobs. As my mother is fond of saying, we burn the candle at both ends...and I think we've just about reached the dwindling middle of that candle.

I don't say these things in a hunt for sympathy. It's just a season of life and we know it.

But I do say it for this reason: we are not alone in the raggedness of life, and maybe you're feeling it too - in your own way, with your own details.

Over this past Memorial Day weekend, Ryan had to work...both Saturday and Memorial Day. I had both days off and I scheduled nothing. I stayed home, worked on things around the house, did some scrapbooking, and drank extraordinary amounts of coffee.

And the minute Ryan got home from work each day, he did nothing too...which is very out of character for him. He's always got a project. But together we sat in lawn chairs in our backyard, took naps in our hammock, curled up in front of the TV for a movie, and, of course, drank extraordinary amounts of coffee.

It was a lovely, lovely weekend. And not just because we were blessed with sunshine and warm breezes. It was lovely because we rested. What a treasure!

We've also made a commitment to wildly protect our Sundays as a day of rest. We go to church, but when we get home...we rest. Unless it just simply cannot be avoided, we don't ever schedule get-togethers or chores on Sunday. It's our day to take naps, to be still, to do whatever we want...and to not feel one iota guilty over it.

It takes some creativity on our part to make our Sundays work. We sometimes pull later nights than we want to earlier in the weekend making sure laundry is caught up...grocery shopping is done...yards are mowed. But OH how thankful we are, come Sunday, that we did those things.

I don't know what your life looks like. I don't know your challenges and obstacles. And for you, I don't know if this is a season or a life. But I do know that God brings up the subject of rest in His Word. He offers it to the weary and burdened.

What if He's offering it and we're not taking it?

Just something to think about. No idea how it might look when applied to your life, but I encourage you with much love, to think about it at least. In the busyness...can you make time to rest?

To take what He offers?