REST for the mind, body and soul

Begin with Jesus - He’s calling us to slow down. 

The magnitude of Psalm 61:1-4, those Words, and that very Scripture bring tears to my eyes, literally every time I read them. 

“Hear my cry, O God; give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; let me take refuge in the shelter of Your Wings.” - Psalm 61:1-4

My breath slows, my heart swells, and the memory of the placement of keys on the keyboard is relevant and needed as tears cover and blur the screen. I stop typing, take a deep breath in, and exhale an enormous amount of gratitude for a God who listens and is available every time we need Him. He wants us to call on Him, relinquish the control to Him, in absolute obedience to the

One who can lead us to the Rock of rest, because He-is-our-Rock, waiting for us to whisper a voice of surrender. 

I begin my mornings early (4:30-5:00 a.m.) mostly precipitated by getting up to feed the famished dogs who wait eagerly for morning to come. It has, as of late, morphed into some of the best “quiet” moments of my days. While I didn’t set out to have some deep, religious meeting time, Spiritual rest found me. The satisfied pups, fed and sound asleep across my lap in the recliner, coffee, Bible, iPad, journal, candle, fresh aromatherapy that peaks both my calm and creative sides. This is a time when Jesus has my full attention.  The start of my day. I long to direct my day and the day of others by the words that are penned during this time that I commune with the Father, fully engaged, prior to the noise of the world getting to me. I lead with God so He can lead me, and fill myself with His truths so I can use them when the battles come. Because they will come. It seems odd writing about rest and describing my early morning. Beginning my day early with Jesus is most definitely rest for my soul. I basically wake, postured to have this time of solitude, and I can’t begin to describe how this small bit of discipline has changed my life. I feel God often whispers to us. This world and the thoughts in my head are so loud at times, and I want to make sure I carve out time, without noise, so I don’t miss His Voice. Nestled in, wherever you are, He’ll find you, and you just might hear Him say, 

“Welcome home.” 

Find a special place in your home where you can create an Upper Room, a prayer closet, etc.  This will allow you to meditate, pray, read, journal, be still, calm and quiet, and just spend time alone with Him. Even if it’s in the deepest, darkest corner of your home, barefooted, in mixed-match pajamas or your rattiest t-shirt; that is more than ok.  Your “you” time will also be “His” time as you bathe yourself in prayer, gratitude, thanksgiving and reflection. Consider yourself a blank canvas, and create in whatever space serves you, so that you will be able to serve yourself and others well. 

Start your day in prayer, and finish it in grace. 

When do you pray for yourself? Don’t let your answer be, “when I need something.” You, the one you spend the most time with, are deserving to be prayed for every day. How do we expect to pour into others, if we are not full?  Every morning, begin with a prayer for yourself. This is so important for setting the tone of your day.  Plant seeds every day, but remember the day you plant the seeds is not the day you eat the fruit. Perspective is key here, and keeps us from setting ourselves up for failure. Walk in victory, sweet sister, knowing today you’ll make it through.

“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” - Mark 6:31 

How’s your soul nutrition? 

What about our souls? Are they healthy, nourished, rested? Or are we spiritually exhausted and depleted? “What feeds your soul” and “what you feed your soul” are two separate things. Do you make time for what your soul thrives by, or do you give it just what it needs to get by? 

“For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul

He has filled with what is good.” - Psalm 107:9 

Our bodies have an enormous job. They hold our souls, the innermost personal part of us, and it is so very important to take care of both. We eat better and exercise more for our health, but our spiritual health is just as important as our physical. Quite often I find it takes a backseat on most days for most of us. Our diet isn’t only what we eat, it’s what we read, listen to, watch, anything we put in our bodies. If we don’t make the best choices, it often leads to fatigue, sickness and exhaustion. Our bodies listen to everything our minds tell them, and our immune systems listen when we tell our body what matters and what’s important. 

Nourishing our souls makes me think of Communion. What a sweet time of pause and prayer. Alone time, ironically, while sitting in a pew possibly next to a few hundred other spiritually-hungry people. Some of our most intimate thoughts moving loudly through our minds, in a room where the only sounds are muffled coughs, and the child who doesn’t understand the sacredness of Communion and being still. 

Fall in love with taking care of yourself, mind, body and soul. Your entire body will thank you, and probably your family and friends. I’m a Risk Manager by day, and I often tell people, “Put your oxygen on first.” We can’t be our best if we are constantly giving, and never let ourselves 

receive. At some point, we must fill our own vessel so we have something to give others.  I believe self-care is more than just a bubble bath with calm music playing. There’s a difference between resting in the Lord and being wrapped in a stark white robe at a spa, waiting on the bath butler to draw your bubble bath. 

Our souls crave and flourish different things, and that’s one of the beautiful things about us all being different. For example: I love sitting, watching and listening to the birds in my yard, just outside my writing window, and more often than not, I let them serve as a distraction, right 

now included. I love having my fingers in the dirt. I love the coolness of the soil, and pruning my roses is outright therapy for me. I used to have an herb garden and my heart and soul tell me I will again someday. All in all, some of the closest times I feel to the Lord are in my car, top down and praise music blaring, arm stretched to the Heavens, heart wide open. What about you? Do you go for a walk? Do you enjoy spending time outdoors, in nature, breathing in God’s beauty and creations? All of that is good, and time well spent. Do you take a nap? Is it in a hammock, or out by the pool? Do you simply love soaking up the sun, curled up with a book?  Do you go to bed early so you can wake up refreshed, renewed, and anointed to be able to do God’s work and yours? Whether you paint, write, read, or anything you do; steep Him in. However your soul rests well, nothing is right and nothing is wrong. The goal is to just feel your soul refreshed and renewed in Him. 

As women, whether we’ve birthed a child, adopted, we’re childless, single, started a new job, business adventure, or made countless decisions; we’ve labored so many things into life. Why not begin with yourself? We need to be the beneficiaries of loving and caring for ourselves, which is truly hard sometimes. Why is it so easy to love others, and invest into them, but the person we spend the most time with, the one that we wake and sleep with, grow with and fall with, we can’t? Often, we just put ourselves second, or third, or maybe not even at all. That's not a bad thing, that is simply just the truth and reality of our situations. I’ve been trying my best to do what I know my brain loves and needs: rest. I’ve been adding in meditation, even if for just a few moments during the day. Simply stopping to notice my breath and rest in just being; while controlling my breath, before it controls me, has proven to be a powerful tool. 

Even a brief moment of just breathing in life, will linger much longer than the breath itself. 

A few months ago, I did something just for myself. It was 36 minutes in total, and what it did for me lasted for hours. I love yoga, and for years I practiced in some form, most every day. I had been wanting to get on my mat for so long, but lacked the courage. But I finally did it! For 36 minutes, I did a Restorative Yoga and Meditation class, right in the comfort of my own home. Candles, diffuser, and restorative meditation music playing in the background. I had ‘me’ time, and God won, not Satan. At the end, hands pressed together over my heart, I burst into tears. As much as my brain needs me to unplug, turn everything off and just be, sometimes we just need to surrender and say yes. The reward will outweigh the hesitation. 

Get grounded and centered, unclench your jaw, and soften your shoulders. We hold so much tension in our bodies. I wear a mouthguard to bed because I’m the best teeth clincher there ever was. I don’t grind, I clinch. I even wake with my teeth buried in the guard. I can listen to calm, spa music, Scriptures being read, sermons, worship music, heavily meditate, look at pictures of puppies and kittens, or my favorite “go to” stress reliever: Aristocats “Scales and Arpeggios,” and stillwake feeling as if my hair’s standing on ends. 

What anchors you, good, bad, spiritually, or emotionally? 

What do you allow to sink you from your core? Are you anchored to Him if your ship goes down? What makes you feel as if you have a magnet to your back and the floor? Shift the weight you’re carrying by letting Him share some of your burdens. Feel yourself becoming lightened, and always remember, everything that weighs you down isn’t yours to carry. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My Yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

Having a brain injury, I’ve learned a lot about brains, brain matter and such, and what I know is “brains matter.” Your brain and mine. Fatigue can grip me like a child with a new lollipop. Social media, phones, emails, notifications, alarms, apps for this and that, etc. The apps are exhausting and leave my head feeling like a circus has set up its big tent, and the music is nonstop. Late nights are even worse, when my brain feels depleted, and most often mean that sleep won’t come easily, and rest is not even a dream. 

Exhaustion has no boundaries, whether you’re as rich as the Rockefeller’s, or you’re the Mama that prays God will provide their child’s next meal, it will find you. I write a lot about recovery and recovering, and isn’t that basically what rest is: recovering? Runners after a race, do what? Recover. Waiting to rest after all your work is done is like waiting to have a child after you have money. There will never be the perfect time. All of your ducks will never be perfectly in a row. There will always be work, and God will always provide. We often persecute and abuse

our bodies by spreading ourselves too thin, tending to demanding schedules that seem impossible, because probably they are. School projects, homework, meetings, dinner, sporting events, practices, commitments that leave us feeling defeated, frazzled and scattered. Maybe you’re tired, depleted, unsure of your next steps or even your next breath. Take a moment for YOU today, and slow your pace. This one is hard for me, it’s ok if there are crumbs on the couch, dishes in the sink, clothes in the washer, hamper, dryer, to be folded and put away. You and your body are more important than any clothes, or any dish in your home. The dust will always keep, and the dishes will always rest. Carve out time for yourself. We are gifted with 24 hours each day that can either defeat us or help us thrive. All we have to do is show up, broken or breathless. He will meet us where we are.

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most High 

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. - Psalm 91:1

Work and rest complement each other, and you shouldn’t do one without the other. We can be excellent workers and contributors, but it’s got to be complimented by rest. Rest can be very productive and necessary. The better we rest, the better work we’ll be able to perform the next day. Some of us are wired as Multi-taskers, type A’s, that seldom rest. Others are those who can barely get one thing done, but never stop trying. Rest for either may be entirely unavailable at times. Work can be exhausting, and play can be exhausting. Make sure your play doesn’t become work. My husband does a lot of work at our son and daughter-in-law’s ranch. He goes there, not only to help, but because it makes his soul happy. Sometimes he needs to be reminded to slow down, or his body will take over and slow him down. Life, and the number of candles we blow out each year, has a way of happening this way. 

We live in a world full of hustle and bustle, and boss babes, and the “do more, not less” attitudes. Sometimes we may even bully those who linger longer in pause than us. We’re all unique, and require a different amount of rest, and that’s ok too. You are exactly how God made you, nothing more, nothing less. Whether you rest like a Princess or a Warrior, it’s absolutely fine. We all walk in different seasons, some more challenging than others, and we need to be compassionate for our sisters who are in the valley when we’re on top of the mountain. One of the hardest things for us to do is ask for help. Pride, shame and embarrassment sometimes stand taller than our strength, and many times this ends in frustration and exhaustion. One tiny pull of your last thread of strength, and you unravel into weariness. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, walking around with a baby on one shoulder and spit up on the other; or a woman walking in stilettos in corporate America, you walk your walk and rest your rest. If you don’t rest well today, you’re afforded the opportunity when you wake to try it all again. This is God’s grace. Don’t beat yourself up, that’s not healthy mentally or physically for you or those around you. You are brave, strong, bold and capable of all He’s called you to do. After all, He called YOU, not anyone else to walk your walk. 

God sets a table for us each and every day, all we have to do is just show up, singing hallelujahs or walking unable to breathe.

Abandon things that create anxiousness and stress

Unfocused, overwhelmed, feeling as if you’re creating more, instead of less? You can check your planner, sticky notes, to do lists, and calendars, but sometimes you just need to breathe and settle into Him and His timing. Sometimes things get so out of control that we can’t calm them, but we can calm ourselves, and we can rest in His promises and allow Him to calm the storm. Take your eyes off of what makes you restless, worried and fearful. Begin focusing on God, possibly even 

viewing your world through His Eyes, if you can. We may need to figure out what to hold on to and what to let go of. We’re in a culture of add, add, add, and maybe we need to reduce, subtract, or let go. Is there something in your life that you could give up, that you could empty, so you could begin adding things that could restore you? We all could take a rest from negativity, hate, social media, shame. Lay down what you need to, and feel the anxiety and tension begin to slowly lessen. Can you feel your breath and pulse slowing? Learn to create white space. Lean away from the things that don’t aid in your wellbeing. Lean into the things that don’t come so easily. Lean into the things that make you have to be still in Him to do. Lean into things that make you do this intentionally, until they become a habit. 

Take His Hand and allow Him to hold you above the waves. 

When you’re anxious, stressed, in sheer desperation: surrender to this prayer, “Lord, I feel my grasp loosening, and I’m trying to hold on with every fading breath, but I’m depleted, in survival mode…I need You to hold me tighter when I can’t hold on at all.” You can cry, but don’t quit. The worst is never the worst. Settle close to Him and dwell, and when the battles come (which they will) learn to fight from your knees. Let Him be your soft place to fall. Learn to fall into His arms and recover with Jesus, and listen for Him to say, “Lean in,” and if you can’t stand, sink in His grace. 

Practice pausing. 

My husband and I try occasionally to insert a pattern interruption. He calls it a PI. It’s become fun for us to decide when and where we’ll do this. We often try to work in a PI when we’re going somewhere, just to allow a moment or two of lingering. We get so busy in our consistent routines, that we get in a rut and often forget to celebrate the beauty of things around us. He’s gotten so good at pointing out the things he knows make my heart happy. For example, things like: sunrises, sunsets, wildflowers, old churches and just things that cause you to rest a bit in God’s creations and glory. You’ll get to where you’re going in plenty of time, enjoy the journey a little while longer, enjoy the breaths in between words spoken and not. Practice giving to yourself by this small act of self-love, by inserting a pattern interruption into your day, or schedule? You don’t have to stop doing what you’re doing, just interrupt it, and embrace it. Do you wake at the same time every day? Wake up earlier, or sleep in. How about where you eat lunch? Try something or someplace new. Change it up, interrupt your pattern, even if you have a deep-seated love affair for Taco Tuesday at your favorite restaurant. 

Practice receiving and refueling, and may He pour a balance of relaxation and life into every breath He allows you today. When nightfall lands on your busy schedule, may you rest in

knowing, what you’re going to give yourself is more beneficial than what you have to lose by slowing down, both spiritually and physically. Finish your day resting in His grace. 

Prayer for the reader: “God breathe calm on us today. Untangle our busyness while strengthening our resolve, and allow us to rest in peace. How often we voice those words after someone’s gone, why can’t we make that a priority while we’re here? Help us to do that. Guide us to meaningful rest, so we can be refreshed and equipped for the next season that You have planned for us. Help us to fall in love with ourselves, a deep, passionate self-love for our minds, bodies and souls.”

“My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”- Exodus 33:14

I know our God redeems, He refreshes, and restores. Rest in Him and His Promises.