Six was a pretty solid age for me.
My mom quit putting pink, sponge rollers in my hair. I knew without a doubt that Santa was, in fact, real. I received a gold-plated M & M necklace as a gift, and I was no longer required to rest. See, I hated rest. Napping was abandoned years earlier, but up until six-years-old, my mom required me to rest each afternoon. Spending any amount of time stuck in my room while life sped on seemed totally unreasonable.
I wanted to run and laugh and create hidden forts and hold pinecone wars with neighbor kids.
Fast forward thirty years and I still struggle with rest.
This week I cancelled four obligations, two of which have been planned for months. Now, maybe you think I cancelled these four things because I realized I needed rest. Um, good guess, but no. The real reason I cancelled these four obligations is because they conflict with four other obligations.
That’s hard to admit because if you told me you needed to attend eight different activities in one week, I would shake my head and tsk-tsk at you. Then, I’d remind you of the importance of leading a slow life, and that busyness can be an idol.
But sometimes, Busy sneaks up on you, and although you don’t schedule basketball tournaments, extra work meetings, and trips to another state to buy a new car because yours is crap-o-la (insert loud sigh), Busy happens. And sometimes we can’t control Busy.
The solution? Embrace rest.
Pencil it in. Scratch it out. Make it happen. It’s that important.
Secret forts, pinecone wars, and basketball tournaments can wait. Rest cannot.
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31
Question for you: How have you embraced rest today?