Imagine a Saturday morning, you have nothing to do and you want to have a day of just chilling out. Unfortunately in the back of your mind you know there are things that need to get done around the house. So you say to yourself I will just start a load of laundry. So after you put a load of laundry in and make breakfast for the kids. You remember that the bathrooms need to be clean because the kids have been spitting their toothpaste in the mirror instead of in the sink. “Ding” that’s the washer. You finish up the kids bathroom and walk to the laundry room to move the washed load of towels into the dryer when you realize the kids need clean clothes for school next week, so you start a load of clothes. As you take a second to breathe you look down at your watch and see that it’s lunchtime. You planned on making something simple for lunch. Sandwiches it is, for the kids. The family eats lunch and you clean up the kitchen. Finally you get to sit down on the couch to relax for just a minute after all today was supposed to be a relaxing day. “Ding” this time the sound is coming from the dryer. You switch clothes from the washer to the dryer, fold the towels that are now dry and clean up the mess the kids made. Again you look at your watch realizing it is almost dinner time. “Where has the time gone” you say to yourself.
Does this sound familiar? Because if it does you’re probably a mom and if it does this is probably how your resting days go. I know I struggle with wanting it to look like I have everything together. I want the kids to be well dressed and clean and our house to look like something out of a magazine while making it all look effortlessly. But it actually takes a lot of effort to make all these things happen. So after this day of housework, I described you don’t actually get any rest. That is why I titled this blog fake rest. Saturday is supposed to be a day of rest but more often than not it is a day of busy housework.
So how do we rest? That’s the biggest question. I feel like as a mom I think “how do I actually rest and still have the house put together?” For me, taking a walk by myself is where I can find rest. Actually, as I am writing this blog, I am two miles into my walk around the town. I have my voice recorder on and recording what I’m saying. To the onlooker that I’m passing by they probably think I’m crazy. All they see is a lady walking down the street with her headphones in talking to herself.
This rings true in my spiritual life too. Lately, there’s been so much unrest going on and there’s been so much happening around the world that my soul is not at rest. This past week the staff at our church came together to go on a day retreat to take time out of our busy lives to get some rest for our souls which is so important because sometimes especially as pastors and the leadership in the church we put our souls to the side because we focus on discipling people.
One part of the retreat we took time to walk and pray. I actually took the walk with one of my close friends that I also work side-by-side within our digital church. We walked, talked, and prayed over each other. We prayed over our church and our team. We cried, we laughed and that is where I found rest for myself, at the moment as we prayed together and sat in the middle of the woods by a lake that’s where I found rest. Putting everything else aside and not thinking about being a mom, not thinking about all the things I needed to get done just sitting there in the stillness I found rest.
Do you need to find rest today? Do you need to find rest for your soul that has not been at peace? Do you need to find rest for your family? Do you need to find rest physically?
As you’re reading this, take five minutes to stop what you’re doing, leave this on the screen and write down these five things.
One- What is causing me unrest?
Two- What can you do about it?
(There may be things that you can’t do anything about, the environment or the situation you’re in but you can do something about how you perceive it or how you react to it.)
Three- When is the last time you prayed? Maybe I should rephrase that, when is the last time you prayed for peace in my own life?
Four- Is there someone close to you that you can reach out to and pray with?
Five- What is something that makes you happy? What is an activity that you can do to take your mind off everything else and find that stillness? For me, as I mentioned earlier, walking or hiking is what fills my cup. So what is that for you?
OK, did you make your list? Did you write down your answers? Look at that list and do it! Do what brings your soul peace and brings you joy. Find that person to keep you accountable. Find the ways that you can change your perspective. Don’t let yourself fall into those ruts that are hard to get out of. Today is the day you get unstuck. Today starts a new you. Today I pray you are filled with a peace that passes all understanding.
I pray this blog has brought some peace in your life. Always remember I’m available to pray with you or to talk with you if you need it. Email me at megan@churchanywhere.us
I hope you have a fantastic day!
Talk to you next Monday!