Last week I took some time to rest, I came down with a flu and needed to rest. I thought that by taking last week off it would cause my health progress to suffer when I got back to my routine. I was wrong. If anything the rest brought me back into my routine with renewed energy and focus.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” When we have times of rest it is meant to rejuvenate us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When we take times of rest to focus on God, we come back with renewed strength to continue moving towards the plans God has laid before us. Just as physical rest can bring renewal to our bodies, reducing stress and allowing our bodies to be restored. It is no coincidence that rest is the first part of the word restored. Restoration can only come from once rest has come. During a hurricane, if you try to fix the damage to restore your dwelling, you not only risk your well being but it will not remain repaired as the storm continues to pound down. It is only when that storm has calmed that you can get to the work of restoration. The same is true in our lives. We need the calm, to gather ourselves, grab our tools and get re-focused to the work of restoring the damage and bringing back that which was lost. Last week for me was important to bring physical healing to my body, just as spiritual rest can bring healing to our hearts and minds. If you feel like you have been beaten down by the storms of this world, it may be time to rest and allow the storm to calm, then move towards restoration and revitalization. It may be time to BE STILL!
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As some of you may have noticed, I did not blog this weekend. That is not because I have stopped blogging, or forgot. I have decided that I will blog Monday to Friday. I have realized that I need my weekends to rest my mind, my body, my soul and my spirit. Rest is important. It helps us to come back to things refreshed and ready to go. It helps our bodies rejuvenate. The purpose of my chosen rest is for balance in my life. I am currently in the midst of several projects at once. I am building my counseling business, I am writing a book, I am writing articles once per week, and writing in my blog 5 times per week, I am doing a health challenge, a Minecraft Let's Play (on YouTube) and I am trying to be a good wife and a good caregiver for my two sassy shadows (my black cats Zoey and Riley). Trying to find balance and margin in the midst of so much can be difficult. This is why I need to prioritize rest. If I kept going 7 days a week like I was, I would eventually burn out and then I would not be able to do any of my projects well. I have gone through burnout before in my life and everything suffers as a result. It is much easier to protect yourself from it than to try to recover from it. If you are beginning to feel overwhelmed by the projects or tasks in your life, then it may be time to build some margin in your life. It may be time to schedule in time to rest and in doing so restoring balance to your life. Also, in light of this there will be no blog post tomorrow since it is my birthday. My gift to myself is to not do any writing tomorrow. If all goes well though there may be a different surprise, feel free to check back tomorrow evening to see if it was a success! I really do not like using social media. TikTok is filled with videos that are hard to get a context for because the videos are short, like I am talking less than a minute long . Have you ever tried to make a one minute video and give it context? This is not an easy task. I just created a TikTok account and it was really hard to find videos I could relate to, one that I could connect with. I finally found the discover page and was able to navigate easier. For the younger generation, I am sure this seems funny because you could probably navigate sites like this with your eyes closed and I admire you for your technical savvy.
For me it was overwhelming with so many voices wanting my attention, wanting my likes, wanting me to follow them. All of this did get me thinking though. What vidoes would Jesus have on his page? How many people would like? How many would follow? When youth these days hear that I am following Jesus is this what they think I mean? Hmm, I know, pretty deep before 10am. In all honesty, I am really trying to figure out the whole arena of social media because it does help me to connect with others I would not be able to connect with otherwise from all over the world. It also allows me a platform to share about Jesus love with others, by sharing my writing, and my videos. Even though I find it difficult to navigate these sites at first once I get used to them, I actually find them a bit enjoyable. Now I just need to make sure my life is not all about the likes, the follows, the shares, or the subscribers on YouTube. At the end of the day none of these things really matter. All that matters is that people were touched or moved by God in some way, or that I have been able to be there for someone when they needed me. What am I getting at in my rambled thoughts this morning is this, what is your purpose in using social media? Does it have a positive impact, or a negative one? Not just on those on the receiving end, but you as well. Social media is a great tool, just ensure that it does not consume your life, it is about maintaining a healthy balance. It has been two days in a row. Hopefully the beginning of great things. With Christmas coming towards us at the speed of light (or at least that is how it feels to me), it has my mind focused on how God humbled Himself for us. It has got me thinking about myself and whether I am as humble in my daily walk with Him. I know I would like to be humble but that is not always the case. I am blessed, God has given me so much! I am very thankful to Him for His gifts, but the question remains...what am I doing with everything He has given me? Could I be doing more? I think I could be doing more in some ways and need to cut back in others. I need to find a balance in my life. As we are entering a very busy season, just remember to take time for God. He is the reason for the season and He will help us remain balanced through the busy days to come.
The Scripture verse for today is Psalm 119:10 "With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments." Interesting how these verses seem to coincide with what I am talking about. This is a reminder to me to keep seeking God with all my heart and my balanced life will fall right into place. I took this weekend off, just to enjoy the news (see my last blog entry) and relax. It was a great weekend! I worked on Saturday but after that it was time to relax and just enjoy life. We went to an arts event, which was awesome. Walter even got to exercise some of his acting ability and had the whole place in stitches. I honestly laughed so hard at one point I almost fell off my chair. I wish I had gotten it on video, I would have totally posted it on YouTube.
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Connie BlackwoodJoin me on my journey through life's joys and difficulties. Archives
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