On Rest

It's hard sometimes working in this lovely fast paced world... in this lovely fast paced workplace.
It's hard sometimes to know that all I need to do is rest... to pause... to be quiet for but a moment.
And to also know that it's so hard to make sure it actually happens.
It's hard to make sure that I keep that time sacred and to ask that others be respectful of that sacred time.

I know it's not impossible to do this and have this time.

I'm grateful for the many mentors that I have to teach me how to do this by their example. It's by watching them take time to rest and pray that I am reminded of how important it is and how much my soul yearns for and needs that time. And I know that Jesus found that time, even though it was hard to come by. Hard to carve out those sacred moments of alone time.

And sometimes I'm good at trying. Sometimes I find myself on my deck with a book (which ends up not being as wonderful as I imagined it might be) and settle down in a chair and the phone rings, a guest needs help finding a camping spot. And so I go, because my time is not only my own but more importantly because I care. And I care deeply for the people who come to this place and their time here.

But then I try again... deck, chair, heavy eyes... this time with the cherry chocolate chunk Haagen-Dazs ice cream (aka: a little bit of heaven!). A bit of deliciousness to enjoy during the few moments of quiet.

In the next few weeks I hope to find more mini-moments for the restful, sacred, needed places of quiet and alone time.  And I hope to find more moments of conversation, sharing and laughter with friends. Why? Because I need to for my self-care and overall well-being and because I need to show myself that I can engage in work and ministry that calls for my time and attention minute after minute and also have the ability to pause.
To breathe.
To stop.
To rest.
To pray.
To sleep.
To be.

That I can find the balance and that the balance can be good.

(this may take a lot of cherry chocolate chunk ice cream! :) )