Rest - put to the test!

Let me tell you something. There are times when I dread writing about certain topics here. Do you know why? 99.9% of the time, something happens that week that requires me to try out my own advice. This has been just exactly one of those weeks! In fact, at one point, I found myself rocking back and forth singing to myself (just like you would try to calm a baby) "Be still my soul...."  Our family has really been struggling to get out of debt, as a result of three years of layoffs and unsteady employment, multiple surgeries and on and on. We had some unexpected blessings this last week, and I quickly started paying off some of our smaller, little annoying debts - the ones that drain $20 a month every month and quickly add up together. I spent three days, singing and spinning light on my feet....until I realized that I made a math mistake and was bouncing checks all over the place. How on earth!? I immediately went into panic. How could I be so stupid?! How could I make such a stupid mistake?! I was a half a minute into my tyrade, when I heard the echo in my head, "Be still and know that I am God." I stopped. I cried. I took a deep breath. I heard His voice again,  "Be still before the Lord....because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."

Oh, man! Is that true? Has he? Can I trust him with this? I'd like to say that I didn't give it a second thought and just went on my way knowing God had me covered.  However, it isn't that easy. Is it? I had to tell myself over and over again to "be still." It is not really a passive activity. It is an active choice.  

As we talked about earlier in the week, being still kind of has two parts. There is the part where your mind and spirit are at rest, and there is the part where you literally stop any activity and sit before the Lord.

One good tip I've learned to quiet my soul is found in Provers 18:13. "He who answers a matter before he hears the facts--it is folly and shame to him."

Ask yourself: how many times are your "freak out moments" a result of an initial reaction before you know all the facts.

As I'm writing this, I had to take a short break to sign progress reports for a certain child of mine. He is pretty much failing. Why? missing assignments. It was a good thing I had just finished typing out Proverbs 18:13 because it was a good reminder to me to get ALL the facts. Now I have some teachers to e-mail and figure out the system before I totally freak over his grades.

As of our financial disaster....well, we still have a disaster. But after my husband came home I was able to gather some more facts. He gets paid today. He had two checks in his wallet from his side business that he hadn't deposited yet. The fact was there was a little less to freak out about.

So what does the physical act of stopping your activity look like? I think that it is funny that as moms we even have to answer this question. Most other people are thinking, "Duh. Sit down and do nothing!" But we are asking, "Does this really mean don't do anything." 

Here are a few things I've done to completely stop my activity:

1. Lock myself out of the house. I'm forced to wait to be rescued. I can't go anywhere. I have nothing to do. Once you occupy the kids with a large mud puddle or dirt pile, you can just lay down under a tree and watch the clouds and let God pour into you.


2. Pregnancy Bed Rest.


3. Broken Foot

Okay....those aren't panning out to be great suggestions.

I really do have a few good ones:

1. I have a chair. It is a special chair - a place that I like to go and just sit. I literally give myself permission to sit and enjoy the sun and rest.  I ask God a simple. "What do you want to tell me today?" Wow! You'd be surprised at some of the answers I've gotten. :) Kim has a chair too. I've seen it. So maybe, the first thing you need to do is find a place you can sit. You might need to create it. Clean your room and make it more restful...you know, fold those 16 loads of laundry that are in your bedroom. Or create a special place on your porch, or in a corner in your house somewhere.


2. Nature! Sometimes a quiet spot at home isn't good enough. You need to get out! Is there a lake close to where you live, that you could go sit by? A pretty garden with a park bench? A mountain you can hike? I love hiking as far up as I can go. Or course it is handy to live on a mountain. But I love looking down below on my house and realizing how small my life is and how big God is and how He choose to be so involved in my life anyway.


3. Time out! Do you realize that moms need to put themselves in time out sometimes. ...just go to our room and lock the door and not come out? Yep! It works sometimes. Of course it is ideal if someone else is home to keep the baby from crawling up the kitchen cabinets while you are in there.


4. A night away by yourself. Get a hotel room or borrow a friend's house while they are on vacation. Take a bath. Sleep in. Listen to God.

Some of those things take more time and effort than others. I can grab a seat in my chair outside for five minutes between chores, while the kids are occupied playing. Whereas, leaving for the night takes a lot of planning and effort.

Do you have a special place? or a special way you like to "sit before the Lord"? If so, would you comment about it here and help give us all some ideas?