Say Yes to Rest!

If you've been following me this year, first of all - fist bump and a big THANK YOU - second, you might remember reading our sweet basset hound had surgery at the first of February.  We have noticed that he has aged quite a bit since the surgery, slowing down, sleeping more, needs some Just For Men Gel around the facial features.  But this week seems to be hitting him a little harder.

Wednesday he hardly moved, maybe all of three feet just to lay back down again.  Usually he follows me around the house and lies down by my feet, but not yesterday.  He can get down the back deck stairs to do his business, but for two days now, we have had to carry him back up to the door.  He is eating fine, no labored breathing, no out-of-the-ordinary stank...

So, last night I turned to the Internet, where all information is true and trustworthy.  All the honorable and upright webpages I surfed verified, for the most part, we have a dog not only entering his senior life, but a couple of years into them.

They also said a 50+ pound dog over the age of eight, might sleep 20 hours a day!  We totally nailed that average this week.

I talked to a friend on Tuesday and asked how things were going and she said "If I can just get through these next two weeks".

My Pastor came back into town yesterday after being with her Dad since Saturday.  She had been sitting at a hospital for four days, dealing with medical history, doctors & nurses, new medical history, and she drove home to handle some things here, sleep in her own bed for one night, and then back on the road to be with him again.  We all can relate to that experience and it can be summed up in one word...weary.  We get to where we are running on fumes.

My dad came by the house this morning to let me know he was headed far north to sit with my grandma who was admitted to the hospital.  My heart went out to him when he said "she has been telling everyone she is just ready to go".  The only consolation I had was "Dad, I am half her age, and I am tired...she is simply exhausted".

Life is so busy and accessible.  I have no idea what kind of panic my parents experienced because - GASP - we did not have cell phones, GPS, and certainly no internet to check five different social media sites to see if we had taken a selfie or checked in where we were supposed to be.

Not only do my kids have school activities, but almost anything extracurricular now a days has an honor group, travel group, or competitive squad that fills every weekend that you could ever want free.

And the result is that all we really want, need, or google information for is...to rest, to get the easy answer so that we can breathe a sigh of relief.  We have to verify it in order to give ourselves permission to let down. We have to make sure someone else is doing it, so that we are not alone in allowing ourselves to recharge.

I spoke at church last night and one of my favorite parts of what God put on my heart was that we have to start saying No to all the busy, so that we can be ready to say Yes to something better.  We can't live a life of purpose if we are always saying yes to other peoples' purposes.  And dear friends, we need to say Yes to rest!  We need to recharge our batteries, our joy, our purpose, our love.  We need to have energy in reserves for dogs that need carried up the stairs, sick parents, and grandparents who are looking at an entirely different set of stairs.

God rested.  And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.  Genesis 2:2-3(ESV). 

He set the example.  Not only did He set the example, He did it on like the second page of the Bible - early on He made it important.  And we know that Heavenly time is different from Earthly time - think about it, God could have rested for hundreds of seriously dreamy years, not just one 24 hour day (which would also be dreamy), but several upon several.  Just chillin' by the ocean watching His creation and resting.  Totally speaking my language...

And as I type this, my husband just texted that his weekend plans were pre-rained out...two days, no plans, with my family...Rest On!

Image from Pinterest and Elizabethgeorge.com

P.S. If you are over the age of 8, and over 50 pounds, I am an honorable and trustworthy authority on the Internet that is giving you permission to rest.  That is a fact.  Please print this off in black and white, carry it with you to your hammock, or make a paper umbrella out of it for your drink.  Happy Resting!