Rest
Serving a better master: trading busy for rest
As a business owner, I wear many hats. (Actually, I wear all the hats because I don’t have employees.) Like all of you who work in the home or out in the marketplace or ministry, that means there’s always a task that needs doing.
Always.
So, we continue “doing.” The alluring idea of getting ahead of our tasks list (or merely caught up), coupled with devices that make work accessible anywhere, anytime, causes us to work incessantly. But “ahead” and “caught up” are mirages that elude us from the distant horizon.
Perhaps you, like me, enjoy (or are addicted to?) productivity and relish in goal-setting sessions and achievement—all of which make resting a challenge. Yet an inability to rest and take breaks from work makes for a life equivalent to that of an indentured servant, subject to the masters of
- materialism,
- a need for success (as a “perfect” parent or star performer at work),
- the reputational currency of being busy, or
- the exacting requirements of our managers and bosses.
But God doesn’t want us to be enslaved to anything but righteousness and His love:
Read MoreA vital key to time management and overall health (and great speaking)
I spent the month of June recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Apart from childbirth and a relatively uncomplicated shoulder surgery, I’ve never really been “laid up” before. In some ways it has been a welcome, though forced, slowing of my natural rhythms. In other ways, it’s been a downright nuisance (e.g., surgical pain).
Post-surgical instructions included resting and not lifting more than 30lbs. for 30 days. I’m not allowed to do anything strenuous and even walking can’t be on much of an incline. So, I’ve curtailed all my professional tasks, allowed myself to rest when needed, and moseyed my way around the flat sections of my neighborhood for the last several weeks. Read More
Hello, again!
I’ve missed you, friends!
I’ve written so many blog posts in the recent months… in my head. I really have been writing quite a bit, but the content has been specifically for Our Daily Bread Ministries so I haven’t had the ability to post more here. (If you’re not familiar with Our Daily Bread, please do check it out as an accessible yet thought-provoking daily devotional. Whether you prefer to receive them in print or through social media, they’ve got options! My devotionals will begin appearing in March of 2017.) I do hope you’re following me on Instagram and Facebook, too; when the radio is silent on the blog, you can usually count on something on those sites (but I still don’t seem to be able to Tweet). Read More
The Back Float: Overwhelmed – Part 5
Constant struggling against the overwhelming waters may well be the biggest reason for not being able to cope with life.
When a child learns to swim, one of the first skills instructed is floating. Being able to float on the water is a singularly valuable tool for a swimmer to cope with a crisis. Too often, however, this skill is neglected… disposed of after learning strokes. I suspect the same is true for the overwhelmed Christian who neglects rest in his or her life. Read More
List Limitations
I love lists.
Love, love, love them. I do have some digital lists, but many are still the old fashioned paper-and-pen variety. They decorate my kitchen counter and cupboards, my dashboard, and my desk. (Can I call this a decorating scheme?) I’ll buy cute pads of paper and always try to have an array of pens to choose from.
Today I felt defeated as I perused my list. I even wrote a new one to clean it up and make it all pretty-like. (Didn’t help.) It was overwhelming to see how much must be accomplished in the next 48 hours… on a weekend, no less. My reason for writing lists isn’t even all that cheerful: I know I can’t remember what needs doing! Read More
Sleeping on it
Yesterday didn’t start all that well.
I was awake for hours in the dark of the night. I spent more of it awake than asleep. (I’d love to tell you that I did something constructive or spiritual. But I didn’t. I just got irritated.)
I was greeted with some difficult news as soon as I sat down at my desk. Given my lack of rest, it took more of an emotional toll than it normally would. I had a very negative reaction to it, even though I knew I would respond differently — less pessimistically — with more rest in my system.
My post yesterday was a somewhat sarcastic rendition of my day’s events: the truth that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), but that I’d have to wait almost 24 hours to get another fresh start. I have noticed, however, that almost everything does seem to look a little brighter at the dawn of a new day. I subscribe to the notion that we should “sleep” on whatever is bothering us for a night. Read More
Christmas Apnea
What do tonsils and Advent have to do with one another?
Seemingly nothing, at first glance. The two have coincided in my life this year, as my daughter is having hers removed today, December 18.
At age twelve, we’ve only recently discovered that her oversized tonsils are obstructing her sleep. Dangling like two red ornaments into her airway, those tonsils cause her breathing to stop about every three minutes throughout the night; her brain arouses her to shift into a position that will enable respiration again. Read More