Resting Place

  White Mountains, NH

My resting place is the picture above.  When it is time to truly rest, to lay back and just relax, this is the place I come - the White Mountains of NH.  The mountain beauty, the gracefulness of the trees (even though they are still bare), and the calmness of the world at this particular place is one I have treasured to bring me to a state of relaxation over the years.  I enjoyed this past weekend with my husband, who also needed rest.  It has been a nice time.  Life had gotten crazy for us - new job for Juan, crazy schedule and lots of work for me, thinking of all the things that need to get done, etc.  I am sure you all have been there at one time or another.

This weekend got me to think about my day to day life.  How I run from one task to the next.  I wake up early to arrive at work.  Then 9.5 to 10 hours later, I leave work for home.  Then it is make dinner, clean up, and start the beginning of making the next day's dinner (so we aren't eating at 10pm).  The next couple of hours are either filled with more work, catching up on tasks at home, and then looking at the clock to realize I need some sleep before the next day. I KNOW I'm not the only one amongst all of us that feel this way.  You know what I am talking about!!  Then we move into the weekend - that's when the real work begins.  The laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, etc.  Believe it or not, I enjoy all this busyness.  I used to see these things as chores, but I do enjoy getting my house in order and providing good meals for my family.  

The missing ingredient is rest - time to sit back and enjoy the beauty that God provided for me, for all of us.   There are days that I believe rest is a "bad word".  Does God really want me to sit down for a few minutes when there is so much to be done?  Let's face it people - God did not create us so we can be exhausted.  Even work in The Lord deserves a time of rest - a time to rejuvenate so we can be the best for our God. It is time, for all of us, to take the days that we have and build in the resting time - time for us to be with our families, time for us to share time with God - listening to what He has to say to us, time to just be quiet and rest.

Some of us will find this a difficult concept to wrap our heads around.  Although I have thoroughly enjoyed my weekend away, it shouldn't take leaving our homes to find times of rest. Spring can be a busy  time for us.  A time to get our houses in order, to make plans for the summer, to get the kids off to all their practices, to celebrate Easter and the wonder of our Lord.  So you say you'll get around to true resting in the summer (and we know what that season brings).  One season rolls into the next and finding time to rest is scarce. 

We need to do this NOW. We need to find the time to rest.  Maybe it is a half hour sitting on your front porch.  Maybe it is time away from it all in a special room of your home. Maybe  it is a cup of coffee at your local coffee shop.  The opportunities are endless - God wants us to rest.  He wants us to come to him and lay our burdens on him and rest. So find the time - it is there.  If you actually need to schedule a rest time, then do so. If you are more "spur of the moment" then find that time.  It is there.  Relax, rejuvenate, and move forward in God's journey for you.  The rest of the stuff will get done.  Have some simple faith.  God is here to guide all of us. Here's to rest (and thank you Juan, for a restful weekend).

"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest - you must rest."  (NIV) Exodus 34:21