Skip to main content

Day 5 Let Your Soul Breathe

When I think about rest and sabbath, I think a lot about my experience during La Vida three years ago.  I learned much about being present, slowing down, and leaning into the Spirit while hiking the Adirondacks for 12 days.

When we calm our bodies and truly take time to be still, oftentimes our minds still wander and race about.  I had 2 days of complete aloneness and fasting while I was out in the woods, and while I wanted to use that time to listen to God and journal about everything, I’ll admit that at times, it was hard to focus. My stomach would begin to growl, I felt weak and tired, my mind just meandered around so many topics... it was hard. And at the time I beat myself up about it. But after some practice, Ive learned to gently acknowledge any distraction and guide myself back to my prayers. 

Having two days of completely nothing was such a blessing, but now I’m in a season of life that is constantly moving. I work two part time jobs, go to school online, volunteer some of my time, and I’m working on writing a book. And trust me, I am not bragging— I wish I didn’t have to feel tired every day. But this fatigue has nudged a little reminder in my soul.  I haven’t been giving it space to breathe as one of my favorite authors, Emily P. Freeman says. 

Giving your soul space to breathe sometimes requires finding the peace of the Holy Spirit within yourself even when life bustles around you. Can we probably get 5 minutes of quiet on our day, yes (granted we put our phones down for a moment). But sometimes we need rest in the middle of the day when the to-do lists keep piling up and the hurry of everyone and everything around us chases us. In those moments, we can still find sabbath. 
Pause. What’s today? Where are you? What is the next thing you need to do? Breathe. You don’t have to do everything. Tomorrow has enough worry if it’s own, and I’m sure the next hour does too. Know that you are worthy, and not valued by what you do. Rest in the peace that surpasses all understanding that live within you— acknowledge its presence in your soul. And take one step forward. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Satisfied.

I’ve had many discussions in the past month about “satisfaction.” And of course, when it keeps coming up, God must be trying to tell me something, right? What does it mean to be satisfied? Satisfied (adj.) contented; pleased Satisfy (verb) to meet the expectations, needs, or desires of (someone); to fulfill (a desire or need) I feel like this word is so fitting for this time of year.  The media consumes our minds with the temptation to buy, buy, buy! You see the holiday sales everywhere, and you want to get everyone the perfect gift.  And of course, we all have our own wish lists full of goodies that we would love to love for a few days past the 25 th until they become just another “thing” in the closet, in the drawer, on the shelf, etc. Clearly we are not truly satisfied by things.  We know this in our minds, just not always in our souls. But what about being satisfied in Christ?  The Samaritan woman learned quickly that even just a sip of Li...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 25 What Are You Carrying?

Yesterday I drove up to New Hampshire to visit Ian (my boyfriend). I got there later in the afternoon and I had spent the morning working on things at home.  About an hour after I got to NH, we went to the Fall Festival at his church across the border in Vermont. By the time we got there, it was dark already, I was pretty tired and hungry, and this event was HUGE.  Much bigger than I expected. It was really cool-- food trucks, pony rides, laser tag, trunk-or-treating, Incredibles 2 playing on the side of the church, the works. But. Of course. My anxiety decided to form a lens over my eyes.  The crowds of people around me grew louder and I felt trapped amongst the hundreds of bodies.  My heart started to beat faster with every person who walked by. I have anxiety, I've mentioned this before, and many times large crowds will bring it on. I'm sure many of you know the feeling. And it can be the worst. Here I was, looking forward to having a fun time and enjo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 27 You are a Leader

Today Pastor Chris (at Riverbank Church in White River Junction, VT) talked about one of my favorite topics-- Christian leadership.  What do you think of when we hear the word "leader?" Maybe you think, "sure, I'm a leader." That's great! But maybe you think, "uh, no way, I don't have the abilities or the gifts to be a leader." And if that's you, I understand where you are coming from. But friend, I'm lovingly telling you, you're dead wrong. As Christians, we are all leaders.  Really, I think we're just defining leadership wrong. Leadership, from a biblical standpoint, is serving others (Matthew 20:28), influence (Galatians 5:16-25), responsibility (Galatians 6:4-5), character (2 Peter 1:3), and skill (Luke 1610-12). We all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and he is the most powerful influence. So if we have him living inside of us, and working through us, how can we not be leaders? See, God does not call the qualif...
Post a Comment
Read more