Finding and Enjoying Rest

For the past few weeks I have been doing a study on 'rest', I guess that phrase in itself is an oxymoron...but those of you who know me, you would know that if I wanted to find out what the Bible says about 'rest' and the purpose for it in our lives...I would have to do a study. So out came the books, The Bible, Strong's Concordance...and lots of Internet linking and I worked and studied and thought and prayed.....about 'rest'. My thoughts went something like this, I know God created a day of rest for a purpose, it is one of His commandments, God desires us to find rest and comfort in Him. All of this does not seem like rocket science, but as I studied I thought back on what a typical week looks like for our family. We spend our week doing many things, all(well most) of which we find much enjoyment in, working, teaching, cooking and cleaning, laundry and bill paying and church activities and responsibilities and the list goes on and on. The weekend comes along and Saturday is our catch up day, cleaning the house, running around...shopping and cleaning(I know I already mentioned this...but we do seem to do a lot of cleaning on Saturdays!) Sunday for our family, is a day we all look forward to. We have been blessed with a wonderful faith community, very much like family to us. We typically spend Sunday mornings going to church, and enjoying worship and teaching. We are blessed to have an amazing children's ministry and three of us are involved in various aspects of teaching in the a.m. and p.m. services. Our older children are involved in our youth program and worship band and love all of the incredible activities that they are able to participate in. My hubby spends many hours doing maintenance at the church during the course of the months, and he also has various responsibilities at the church. All that to say, even though Sunday is our day of worship and a day to gather together corporately, we are very often running from one church activity to another. Throw into the mix a few family birthday parties and sometimes the calander is busier on the weekends than during the week.
So that's when I started to think about 'rest' and how our busy family could experience rest. In our culture and community it almost seems wrong to rest, when people ask you how you have been doing, the general answer is 'busy' ...after all our self worth seems to be wrapped up in our busyness. Many questions went through my mind as I was studying, could I possibly get everything done that needs to be done in the course of the week to take one day out and rest? Does it even matter if we experience 'rest' each week? What constitutes rest? If God requires a day of rest for His people, what does that look like for our family? By this time if you are still reading, you are probably guessing that I am very much a type A personality. With all of these questions in my mind, we thought that as a family we would try out this new day of 'rest' for a few weeks and see what it was like. And I must say that I am loving it! We have been spending Saturdays sleeping in, reading, watching movies, lighting a candle and having tea in glass teacups, playing in the snow, working on motor home(this seems to be fun for my dear hubby), spending time with friends, playing card games, or baking with the girls. We have been putting on our favorite radio station and enjoying this 'mini-vacation' from the rest of the week. Oh, and by the way, it is funny but I am getting all of the work done that needs to be done in the rest of the week. The kids love to have a full day with no schoolwork, and no requests for laundry, and a quiet relaxing atmosphere to enjoy their day. So, as this first month of 'rest' comes to a close, I am very thankful that God encouraged this 'child' to seek rest.

131) smiles of little ones, when there is time to bake, play games
132) the quiet and warmth of home, as snow again falls
133) glass teacups and candles
134) friends and family...late nights at TGIFridays...smothered chicken and laughter
135) french toast and bacon
136) many hands making light work on Friday
137) snow, beautiful packing snow for children to play in
138) home filled with peace
139) nail polish and little fingers
140) rest

By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had Done (Genesis 2:2-3)