By Shannon Earl

We want our lives to be magical don’t we? To be free of problems and troubles. To just be able to drive off into the sunset and live happily ever after. For things to just be easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy for crying out loud. It’s tempting to throw caution to the wind, to let nature take it’s course, and to just see where things end up.

But then…..What’s that new word some genius millennial made up….? ADULTING.

Ugh. If I never heard that word again it would be too soon. Sometimes it seems like, as adults, we have SO MUCH responsibility that, without God, life would be downright impossible. The Bible is full of all sorts of things that we are responsible for. And sometimes we let the world pile on so much more. If we made one big long list it would be beyond overwhelming.

But, as Christians we know that God does not leave us alone in our responsibilities. He’s there with us and He sends his Holy Spirit to help and guide us. And He gives us something else that’s incredibly valuable – REST.

When my oldest son stopped napping (sad day) I decided to implement a daily quiet time into our schedule in place of an afternoon nap. This was as much for my benefit as it was for his. His naptime had become for me a time of rest, rejuvenation, and let’s be honest, a lot of days it was simply a time to recover from the morning. It was that one or two hours a day that I could maybe get things done around the house, read a book, nap, talk to a friend, pray, cry over the spilled milk, or just chill out. I needed that.

As my son got older and we added another kiddo to the family I realized that quiet time for him had become a time to not just physically rest but to have all sorts of other kinds of rest: emotional, mental, sensory, social, etc. It eventually dawned on me that our quiet time gave me and my youngest son a rest from those things as well. We all needed that.

Over the years I’ve come to understand that rest isn’t just about sleep. Sleep is good, of course. But true rest is about more than that. Rest should be a time of refreshment. So resting from things like the highly stimulating, modern and high tech world that we live in, social activities and pressures, studying and learning, creative pursuits, junk foods and toxins – resting from all these various things should leave us feeling refreshed and revived.

So how do we find these times of rest? Sometimes rest looks like a vacation, an extended time to really unplug mentally and physically. Sometimes rest is a walk in nature, a pool party with friends, or spending time in God’s word. Sometimes rest really is a nap, an afternoon quiet time, a phone call to a bestie, or a junk food detox. Sometimes my best rest comes from doing something creative that I don’t normally make time for such as painting, organizing, or – to my husband’s chagrin – rearranging the furniture….again.

The point is, we all need rest. Creating margin and building it into our daily routine is an absolute must. But, just as important, we must remember that God is faithful. In all ways. In all things. Rest and relaxation is not out of our reach. It’s just within it.

“Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.”- Psalm 116:7

May He bless you and keep you always,

Shannon

Shannon resides in the beautiful state of Colorado, with her husband and two sons. She serves as our resident graphic design artist for all of our products and publications and is the primary recipe developer for our home remedies. If you would like to connect with Shannon you can reach out to her at Shannon@sorelledesigns.com 

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.