REST Day Whatever: Redefining REST
I knew a REST would mean different things for me this Lenten season, but I wasn't quite sure that it would include a death in the family, Pink Eye, ear infections, so little makeup, so little writing, and so.many.bad.hairdays.
So it got a little real up in here the last few weeks. Three to be exact. And just like that, I couldn't write.
It started with my own creeping exhaustion, which I've learned arrives like clockwork two weeks into any significant writing project (in which I'm usually depriving myself of sleep to accomplish), compounded by a certain toddler who SUDDENLY decided to conquer his crib and start every day before 5 a.m. Throw in one emotional three-nager, a baaa-a-a-a-d case of allergies-turned-infection, a death in the family followed by a wedding in the family, followed by Pink Eye in all of my immediate family members, and an ear infection in my youngest...
And that was it. I was doing real good to get the kids to the doctor and get meals on the table.
I won't lie. Lately I've just felt terrible and gross.
And I'm not the only one. Friend after friend has reported weird, tumultuous times in their families lately. What's going on? Is it spring? Spiritual attacks? I have no idea, and I've felt a little helpless.
For myself, I can't say I was completely surprised. It seems whenever I start poking in the corners of my spiritual life, dust starts flying and unexplainably weird things happen. And I had kind of counted on the fact that if I was going to walk the Lenten walk, then most assuredly some sort of desert time would come.
Because here's the thing. Normally when uncomfortable stuff happens, do you know what I want to do? I want to go on social media and blubber about it. Or if I don't, I'm totally THINKING about blubbering about it. I want sympathy. I ant to win the worst-day-ever contest, just SOMETHING to give a little validity, a little salve to my wound.
But this year, I couldn't.
So I sat in the bad days, prayed a few very LOUD prayers on the days the kids were beside themselves and I was rapidly joining them, and cried at night when my patience showed it's holey, unholy, worn-out quality. And I prayed some more.
Yes, of course I had/have family and a few close friends to talk to, but even most of them had their onw hard days in that time. No, mostly it has been a lot of me and God and the living room ceiling working this stuff out. But that seems to be a lot of what Lent is about-- getting away from people and many artificial supports in our life to remember that God alone is our source of strength.
Kind of a rest FROM other things and a resting ON God.
And can I just say I've found Him faithful? From providing necessary energy to a note or email or something from someone at the right now, to merely helping me, shamelessly, work through my personal limitations and needs to understand a little more what REST means for me. This Lent, this REST, even though it offers a desert of sorts, is good, though not easy.
JOURNAL PROMPT:
I have plans to continue writing a small blog each day through the last two weeks of Lent to Easter, but I suppose it will be what it needs to be as I continue to juggle a nondescript sleep routine! Please take a moment and jot down what you think you're learning most in this season with no or reduced social media time. How has your prayer life been affected? Relationships? Have you learned something about yourself? I'd really like to hear from you in the comments!
.
It started with my own creeping exhaustion, which I've learned arrives like clockwork two weeks into any significant writing project (in which I'm usually depriving myself of sleep to accomplish), compounded by a certain toddler who SUDDENLY decided to conquer his crib and start every day before 5 a.m. Throw in one emotional three-nager, a baaa-a-a-a-d case of allergies-turned-infection, a death in the family followed by a wedding in the family, followed by Pink Eye in all of my immediate family members, and an ear infection in my youngest...
And that was it. I was doing real good to get the kids to the doctor and get meals on the table.
I won't lie. Lately I've just felt terrible and gross.
And I'm not the only one. Friend after friend has reported weird, tumultuous times in their families lately. What's going on? Is it spring? Spiritual attacks? I have no idea, and I've felt a little helpless.
For myself, I can't say I was completely surprised. It seems whenever I start poking in the corners of my spiritual life, dust starts flying and unexplainably weird things happen. And I had kind of counted on the fact that if I was going to walk the Lenten walk, then most assuredly some sort of desert time would come.
Because here's the thing. Normally when uncomfortable stuff happens, do you know what I want to do? I want to go on social media and blubber about it. Or if I don't, I'm totally THINKING about blubbering about it. I want sympathy. I ant to win the worst-day-ever contest, just SOMETHING to give a little validity, a little salve to my wound.
But this year, I couldn't.
So I sat in the bad days, prayed a few very LOUD prayers on the days the kids were beside themselves and I was rapidly joining them, and cried at night when my patience showed it's holey, unholy, worn-out quality. And I prayed some more.
Yes, of course I had/have family and a few close friends to talk to, but even most of them had their onw hard days in that time. No, mostly it has been a lot of me and God and the living room ceiling working this stuff out. But that seems to be a lot of what Lent is about-- getting away from people and many artificial supports in our life to remember that God alone is our source of strength.
Kind of a rest FROM other things and a resting ON God.
And can I just say I've found Him faithful? From providing necessary energy to a note or email or something from someone at the right now, to merely helping me, shamelessly, work through my personal limitations and needs to understand a little more what REST means for me. This Lent, this REST, even though it offers a desert of sorts, is good, though not easy.
JOURNAL PROMPT:
I have plans to continue writing a small blog each day through the last two weeks of Lent to Easter, but I suppose it will be what it needs to be as I continue to juggle a nondescript sleep routine! Please take a moment and jot down what you think you're learning most in this season with no or reduced social media time. How has your prayer life been affected? Relationships? Have you learned something about yourself? I'd really like to hear from you in the comments!
.
I really resonated with this quote: "But that seems to be a lot of what Lent is about-- getting away from people and many artificial supports in our life to remember that God alone is our source of strength. Kind of a rest FROM other things and a resting ON God." THAT is what has carried me through this harrowing Lent season. I have seen that amidst my husband's illness, the flu that struck us all, and my own personal loss, that I wanted to just escape it all and run to Facebook. I wanted to hide from my pain by looking at someone else's or just read something vapid to keep from confronting my own fears. But I didn't. Instead, I ran to God, and, like you, I did lots of crying and talking to the ceiling. Yet that was the best thing I could have done because He carried me through the storms in my life. He was faithful and my own faith has grown as a result. But I also did something I don't normally do; I reached out to people: namely those who (1) encourage me, (2) do not judge me, and (3) pray. Those people have been the hands and feet of Jesus during a time when I needed love and compassion, a meal, a kind word. I don't think I would have shared these struggles on FB because I am pretty private but I certainly would have tried to escape rather than deal.
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