Day 12: Rest in Practice
The forecast promised a break in the weather, and I opened my windows in anticipation on Sunday night. When I woke up the next morning, I felt the change – not that stagnant settling of heat, but the coolness of wind passing across my skin. It left goosebumps behind, and I put my arm under the sheet. The first time in a week.
I turned over and fell back asleep.
When I woke up a couple hours later, I nudged Matt awake so he could make us coffee. He brought it up, and we stayed in bed a little longer. Our boys, in what can only be described as a Summer Miracle, synchronized to the slow morning. It wasn’t until after 7 that the first one found us.
I liked the restful pace and wanted to keep it going. I realized I could keep it going. I changed my plans. No working, no writing, no blogging. I said no to everything I’d intended. Starting the week now looked like a long drive in the country to get a sandwich and the drive back. It was a great way to start this last week of talking about rest, specifically about how to practice rest in our lives.
Two weeks ago, we kicked off our conversation on rest by figuring out what we really need a rest from and then last week was about why. I posed we can only find true rest, soul rest, in the Gospel narrative – It is finished. It is good – but entering into that narrative requires belief + practice.
Rest doesn’t just happen. Anyone who’s coming off a season of intensity can tell you that. I can talk about sitting all I want, but can I when the moment arises or will I pop back up to adjust a frame on the wall a little to the left, which reminds me I haven’t watered the plants and now that 5 minutes has gone by, I might as well start dinner, but first I’ll check my email.
Practicing request requires discipline built around an awareness of our limitations and vision of how we fit into God’s plans at this time. To get us thinking, here’s a great sermon by Jon Tyson of Church of the City New York. He’s Australian, so everything he says sounds cool, but strip away the accent, and the content about setting and maintaining a sacred pace is stand-alone cool:
It’s a 55m listen – listen while you weed, or listen while you sit. Ha!
After you’re finished, I’d love to know:
What long-game are you in right now?How does seeing your role from a long-game lens give you ideas of how to pace work/rest in the daily, weekly, and seasonally?
I’m aiming for super practical this week, and I’ll be sharing a lot of what I do. Please pepper the comments with your own tips! I’d love to get a brainstorm going.
