That's when I felt that voice telling me to come and rest. Exchange yokes. Relax a little. It didn't make any sense to me. REST? I needed to WORK! I had things that needed to be done! My list was growing! But, I felt like God was telling me that unless I calmed down about everything, I was going to be useless and fighting an uphill battle. I re-evaluated and realized nothing had to be done that day. So, I followed the instructions. I skipped my workout that day. I didn't clean the house while the boys napped. I did a whole lot of nothing. I put my feet up. I even fell asleep for a bit. I felt rejuvenated. No one died because I sat down. While nothing else was accomplished, I felt like God was telling me to throw away the list and create a new, prioritized one.
That night Shawn mowed the yard. Grandma stopped by and while the boys played outside, we pulled some more weeds (thanks mom!). I played a little piano while she was there. She just swung by to see the kids. The yard still needs work but it's not the worst in the neighborhood by any means.
The next morning I woke up by 6 am and was out the door for my jog. When I got home, I got a shower and started my day early. As the boys ate breakfast, I made a casserole (which was on my to-do list to make sure some ingredients we had didn't go bad). We then left and played outside at my sister's house with Ma-maw and the kids she was babysitting. We had a fun morning and then went and picked up Faith after her school was done and I watched her here. I fed them all lunch and then we played outside some more. While her & Joshua were playing Wii and Caleb was happy, I worked on another project in the same area with them, playing more piano as well.
By the time she left at 2:30, my kids were EXHAUSTED! They slept until 5 pm and in the meantime, I cleaned the entire house from top to bottom. I scrubbed all three bathrooms and all three potty seats, dusted, cleaned the leather furniture, wiped down the kitchen, swept and mopped all three floors, etc. I even baked an apple pie in the meantime. I had gotten so much done that we decided to invite friends over to enjoy the casserole with us. Shawn finished vacuuming when he got home so I could get changed out of my work clothes and look a little nicer. We enjoyed dinner, company and playing outside some more.
The rest of the weekend was just as productive. We got done everything we needed to do on time (well, I was finishing making a meal for a friend who just had a baby when our life group friends showed up, but I was less than 10 minutes behind on my schedule).
I learned a lesson that day. For the most part, I learned that I can't freak out. God knows what we need. And He'll take care of us. He'll help us. I think there is DEFINITELY time to work. In Proverbs it says about a little rest, a little folding of the hands, and poverty comes on you like a bandit. I don't think there's anything wrong with working hard. But, my focus had been off. When I took some time to relax and focus on God, the rest (no pun intended) fell into place. So, my point of the story is that God is good! I needed rest, and I got some and I still finished my projects. Glory to Him!
Lastly, the above picture was one taken by the Bean. I have sooo many funny ones from him. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment