Resting with a Guest

Les took me away for Mother’s Day, not because I’m his mother, obviously, but because he knew I needed to rest away from the Mother’s Day hype. Five weeks have not brought enough healing from my grief over Mom’s death that I could deal with a day focused on how much we love our moms. Two days in Annapolis brought us much appreciated rest and refreshment, with friends and alone.

God planned our lives to include rest. Therefore, I am going to “rest” for a few blogs here and share with you a wonderful article from Keri Wyatt Kent on creating a Sabbath. I really want you to read it, so I am not going to share the whole thing at once. A few of Keri’s 10 steps over the course of the week should give you enough to swallow and work on without being overwhelmed. I hope you’ll enjoy it and apply it and come back later this week for more.

I Just Need a Rest: 10 Steps to Creating a Sabbath Habit
By Keri Wyatt Kent


Life sometimes seem to spin past us so fast. Our family, career,
church, friends all seem to have needs that can consume us. Our involvements
and obligations are not often optional. But there comes a point when it can
feel a bit overwhelming. We need a rest.
The God who made us, who designed our bodies and souls, knew that we
would not be able to function non-stop 24-7. That’s why when he laid out the
rules for life, the best way to live, he told us to rest.
It seem odd that people would have to be commanded to take a day
off—until we look in the mirror and realize we don’t obey that command. But
just as our bodies need sleep to function, they’re also hard-wired by our
creator to need a weekly break. Human beings function best when they take one
day out of seven to just stop and rest.
Impossible? Not really. Taking one day a week to rest will actually
help you to be more efficient, as well as making you happier and more connected
spiritually. How do you get there? One step at a time. Here’s ten steps toward
making rest a reality in your life.
1. Assess the current pace of your life: how many things have you said yes
to that you should not have? While you cannot off-load your job or your children
(as tempting as that may be), are there extra things you have volunteered for
that you should not have? If you are a mom, have you signed your kids up for
too many activities, so that you spend hours each day driving them around or
managing their schedules? Maybe you need to cut back on the things you’re doing
during the week, in order to make Sundays a bit less hectic.
2. Say no. We often say “yes” because we think it is the nicer thing to
say, or we don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. But every time you say “yes,”
you’ve automatically said “no” to other things—and that sometimes includes
being able to have a day to rest. Say no by saying things like,  “I’m not the right person for that job”
or “Let me check my schedule and get back to you.” But then, say you simply
cannot add anything else to your schedule. And don’t let your kids be in five
activities just because they want to. Set loving limits so that they have some
downtime.

Keri Wyatt Kent is a speaker and author of seven books, including Rest:
Living In Sabbath Simplicity. For more on Sabbath and her ministry, visit www.SabbathSimplicity.com.

 

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