Technically, I should be sleeping right now.
Sunday afternoons have unofficially become "nap time" in our house. And, it only seems fitting after the series at church we've been having on rest.
You know, rest? That thing you did before you had kids. Or, when you were college. Basically, it's that thing you were able to do before you became that dreaded word called "adult".
It seems, and I'm very guilty of this, that we are a culture that is entirely "too busy". And who isn't? After working all day, and then taking the kids to their various after school activities and then going to church small group night, I finally get home around 9 o'clock, only to have to wash a tennis uniform for Sass's match tomorrow and make Sugar's lunch. By the time I fall in bed and set the alarm for 5am, who has time for rest???
We are all busy. Busy with work. Busy with our family. Busy with life. And busy is not an entirely bad thing. It means we are living and loving and not just existing.
But, busy can also be a cop out.
Don't get offended, I already said I'm the guilty one here. There are times I say I'm too busy for something, only to go home, put on my fat pants and troll Pinterest for the rest of the evening....(no visuals, please).
Busy has somehow gotten glorified in our culture. We believe the assumption that if you're busy, you're doing it right.
Don't believe me? How many people have you ever heard say "Man, I've had so much free time lately"?
Being busy gives us an excuse.
An excuse to why we haven't reached our goals.
An excuse to why we haven't made that call we've been dreading to make.
An excuse to why we aren't reaching out to others.
I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed, that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. I get that. I feel that way often.
But, I also know, unless we slow down and build rest into our everyday lives, we will burn out.
We need to stop glorifying busy and actively pursue rest.
Our pastor has described rest as a preparation, not a recovery.
So often, we use the weekends as a way to recover--from work, from a hangover, from the stress that we endured all week.
Instead, we need to change the paradigm and think of it as a preparation.
A way to prepare for the next week. To get our minds and bodies ready for the work that lies ahead.
My hope for you, dear readers, (all 5 of you...)is that you, too, will rest.
Take that nap without feeling guilty.
Read a book.
Lay in the hammock (not today, it's raining here in eastern NC!)
Be lazy.
And if you get any flack for it, tell them the preacher said it's good for you:)
