Rest and Sleep

I know, I know, I'm behind in this blogging through the alphabet journey with my friends Annette and Amanda. Here is the reason why: I took my own advice! What advice? That's what I'm going to share with you today. :)

The letters R and S are for rest and sleep. Those are two entirely different things, but when you're a working and homeschooling Mama, you often feel like you're lacking in both!

Sleep is the obvious one.

We need sleep. Sleep is when our bodies repair themselves, when our digestion finishes, and when our mind goes into REM sleep and we have weird dreams. If you're not dreaming, then you're probably not sleeping well! If you cannot remember the last time you had a vivid dream, then I would suggest you talk to your healthcare practitioner and ask them if you might be diffident in magnesium. I speak from experience. Once I started taking magnesium and overcame my deficiency, I started having wild dreams, and then vidid dreams, and now I just dream a lot. I do not always remember them, but I can remember that I had a dream, and I awake feeling much more refreshed.

The other word is harder for us Mamas to comprehend. 

It is rest.

When I started on this trip through the alphabet with you, I told you I was going to talk about the blessings to be found for a working and homeschooling Mama. Rest is so vital, but so overlooked in our society. When your brain hurts, when it seems like you are always in a fog, when you're spinning too many plates and none of them well - you need rest! When you cannot find time to read your Bible, when you get cranky with your children, or your spouse, for the little things they do that are just a part of their personalities  - you need rest! When you cannot remember what it is like to relax and breathe deeply - you need rest!

Here is the kicker - you have to choose to rest!

Rest does not come naturally to Mothers. We see things that should be done: the laundry, the weeding, the math book, and we have this inner drive to accomplish all of it - today! 

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: YOU CANNOT DO IT ALL, SO STOP TRYING!

Maybe I was yelling that secret, maybe just raising my voice a bit, but it is still truth: you cannot do it all. 

What is this ALL you are trying to do anyway? Are you trying to live a Pinterest perfect life? No one really does and still loves like Christ loves. 

Are you trying to do ALL that you see your neighbor doing? Stop, just stop, because they are not living YOUR life - you are! 

Are you trying to do ALL that your In-Laws suggest, ALL that your child's scout leader recommended, ALL that you see in a scope and sequence chart? 

The only ALL you need to be doing is surrendering it ALL to Christ! 

To be able to choose to rest, you, as a Mom, wife, person, have to choose to put your day, your year, and your life in the very capable hands of our Heavenly Father. You have to choose to rest in His presence. You must choose that time with God is more important than any other thing: even over a clean kitchen or eating your lunch!

Rest comes from God. 

When you choose to surrender to God's plans, you choose to rest, When you choose to trust His hand is guiding you, you choose to spend time in His Word, in prayer, and in fellowship with other believers.

See the koala in the tree above? He is resting. Are you resting? He might also be asleep, but he is resting, trusting the tree to hold him, and the zookeeper to bring him food. Are you trusting God to hold you, are you trusting that He will provide your daily bread? You should be.

Today there are 100 things I could be doing. But what should I be doing? I cannot know that unless I rest in God and ask Him for guidance, for His wisdom, which He gives generously. 

Today, I challenge you to choose to rest. Choose time with God over everything else. Find a peace and rest that can only come from Him. He will direct your paths, and He will teach you how to rest, how to love like Christ, and how to live a life that is eternal.