#15 Rest
We’ve arrived at the middle, so it is a good time to take a break and talk about rest. I’m not always very good at getting rest, and I used to think that was a vice-but-really-a-virtue. You know, one you “confess” to but are actually proud of, like being a perfectionist or not ever putting yourself first. I was wrong.
God designed our bodies to need rest. And I’m not strictly talking about entertainment, either. Playing three hours of Candy Crush or bingeing on Netflix for a whole weekend may or may not be restful. It is certainly different than work and usually distracting, but we are designed to find times where we are quiet, and calm, and where our souls can reconnect with the One who made us.
God rested. He specifically set aside time for us to rest. In fact, we are given to understand that this rest-time was made for us as a gift. And there is no reason I can think of why he would need to create us as people who sleep for a 1/3 of our lives, except that in his economy that is a good balance and an appropriate use of time.
I am learning to find times of rest in my life out here. These moments have to be snatched when the opportunity presents itself, because there is no such thing as a weekend, or a holiday, or a night off.
I have learned to read my Bible in the morning, (something I never imagined myself doing–not exactly a morning person here) because there might not be another moment later in the day. I have been teaching myself to watercolor, which I stink at, but enjoy. It’s calming. I am learning to let myself off the hook for a nap in the middle of the afternoon, or for wanting to read my book on a Tuesday morning–there might not be an available occasion on the weekend, so why not?
With that in mind, I’m going to take a little rest from this series. We’ll pick up what’s left of the topics when I come back, but things have gotten crazy, and I’m tired, and I need a break. Maybe you do, too?