“Either we strictly guard our rest or we perish.”

TenayBenes.com

The Status

On Day 25 of our #40daysoffaith adventure moving from MD to CO on the word of God, I visited a women’s church group at a restaurant and then stayed to enjoy my first night out by myself in Colorado. A drink, a meal, and watching YouTube with earbuds in left me feeling carefree and content. My night out was about being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, which is incredibly restful!

When a woman from the group who had also stayed behind to meet her family for dinner saw me sitting at the bar by myself, she kindly invited me to sit with her family. I politely declined. “This is my night out and I’m enjoying hanging out by myself,” I said. “You see, I get one night out a week, and my husband gets one night out a week. We also each get one half day off each week to do whatever we want.” “Wow, I gotta learn from you!” she said, referring to her own young family.

My question is, “How do people survive without taking regular time off from family responsibilities?!” As I shared in another post, I don’t know of a single family with young kids in which the parents schedule self-care time like us—not until it feels like a crisis!

Perhaps it is a side effect of having pursued inner healing for so long, perhaps it’s because I’ve become highly aware of my emotional state, or perhaps it’s because my husband and I are both half-introverts… Whatever the reason, we have learned the hard way that we need weekly rest from parenting and marriage in order to show up to parenting and marriage with our best.

The Takeaway

“Remember the rest day, keep it separate.” Exodus 20:8 (from the Interlinear)

Rest! Rest is what makes us ready for the next day, next week, next season, and next year. My current understanding is that our souls are meant to rest hourly, our bodies are meant to rest daily, and our spirits weekly. Yet, we live in a non-stop society: non-stop services, church activities, media, and more. Then, we add the non-stop nature of raising a small child into an already non-stop American life! What are we doing to preserves?!!! Either we strictly guard our rest or we perish.

The Prayer

God, you’ve been teaching this lesson to me and my husband for two years. We are still learning and we need your help to implement rest into this new lifestyle—one in which we are together, in the same room, 24/7. Give us creativity and wisdom in how we get self-care, how we rest from the demands of work and family life, each week. Amen.

The Challenge

What is your #40daysoffaith adventure and how did Day 25 go? How might you implement stricter rest into your week to keep yourself healthy?