What Does Rest Look Like To You

Happy Weekend....

What does that look like to you? 

Is it planning your next school week or year?  

Is it running errands for you and the family?

Is it menu planning and/or shopping?

Or does it mean a period of rest and recuperation from the past week while preparing yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally for the next one? 

For myself, I have discovered this is a huge weakness. 

Why, as this makes no sense. Why would anyone have difficulties in this area?

As we have traveled through our difficult journey, I found myself on a mission seeking to find what God wants for me and to identify who I am and how I got here in my life.

Rest should be one of the easiest things we do for ourselves, but I have found this isn't the case for me, but why?

I grew up with my dad who was a disabled Vietnam Veteran and my mom who worked hard at home, she worked outside the home contributing to our family financially as well as taking care of the physical needs of my dad with his disabilities when he needed her.

With coming to the realization of my childhood I have been able to identify why I am not able to truly rest.

I have an unrealistic expectation of myself that produces guilt when I am not actively engaged in activities while my husband is at work.

I am completely aware of how difficult a work day can be for him and if he can do all he does for our family then I need to take being a stay at home wife and homeschooling mom seriously.To me that means staying busy.

When I am not busy I struggle with a feeling of being lazy.

I understand this feeling isn't realistic as everyone needs to have down time to revive themselves, but I am just being honest about this being a weakness I experience and am trying to make a better effort to allow myself to rest when I need it.

It is my hope and desire that by opening up my heart and writing about this difficult subject that it might encourage others who might struggle with the same problem. 

It is critically important to let your mind, body and emotions to rest so they are able to heal properly if you are in a season of trials.

By doing this God is able to work in you and provide you with the opportunity to keep moving forward while focused on Him and not on your own weakness.

If I can offer a piece of advice from my experience it would be that God speaks to us during our times of quietness. If we never allow that quietness to enter our life then how will we hear His voice?

Lastly, remember God's guidance in Genesis when He created the Earth during the first 6 days and rested on the 7th.  He knew as He created us that our minds and bodies were going to need it.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 

Genesis 2:2-3

In closing, it is my hope and desire that if you are a person like myself who finds resting difficult that you will make a conscious effort to seek that down time. 

God will richly bless you with that time of renewal you may be in need of. 

He never lets us down.  Trust God with your busyness and He will reward you with the time you need to get what you feel is important done.