[Seek] Peace in Rest

[Lent 21]

In a world where we are constantly on the go, seeking new adventures, things to do, places to go, staying home is a thing you do when you're sick, tired, or have no better place to be. We seem to be obsessed with accomplishing things. We're either getting things done at work, or getting things done at home or running and errand or shuttling a child somewhere. People just aren't good at slowing down, nevermind resting. Well, most people. My teenagers who slept past noon today don't seem to have an issue with that concept. However, I'm sure for them, these doldrums will get old quickly. 

Rest is good for us. Taking a physical and mental break from the madness around us can do us nothing but good. Changing our focus from the chaos around us to the good things in our lives encourages peace within us. 

Rest looks differently for different people - or for the same person at different times. 

Today, rest for me looked like staying in bed until noon reading, watching videos, and napping on and off, attempting to rid myself of a migraine. It looked like reheating delicious leftovers and climbing back in bed to eat them. And chatting with a couple friends and my pastor online and my husband on the phone during his lunch break. And printing off songs for two of my children to play on the ukulele, writing a bit, and wishing I had an iced macchiato, which would have made my resting oh, so much better. 

Resting was taking a hot mid-afternoon shower with the bathroom window wide open, relaxing my back muscles in the process - and then putting on a fresh pair of pajamas. It was roasting a turkey because it was something easy for dinner and taking my husband up on his offer to make mashed potatoes to go with it. It was taking a can of cranberry sauce out of the pantry and counting that as meeting a fruit/vegetable food group requirement, before settling in for the two hour season finale of Survivor Gabon (we're only eleven years behind). 

Resting doesn't have to be the absence of doing things. It can be slowing your pace down greatly, doing one thing at a time that you love doing, allowing yourself to be fully in the moment and wholly enjoy the peace in the rest.