Monday, February 13, 2012

Rest: from the Father's Heart

There are times you just need it.
          A quiet day at home by the fire.
Almost deliberately, we laid aside the world yesterday.

Hibernation comes to mind.

Yesterday was Sunday, but we stayed home—all day.

          The Texas hill country has had almost no winter this year, but yesterday was cloudy and cold and felt like a snuggle down kind of day.
We did.
          We slept a little late. Till almost eight o’clock and that is late for us on a Sunday morning.
          We put on some easy listening music and I made breakfast. A rare occurrence in our everybody’s on his/her own at breakfast retired life style.
          As the heavier clouds rolled in, we lingered at the table watching the birds flutter around in a feeding frenzy at the back yard feeder. When we felt the need to stretch, Dear Heart built a fire in the fireplace and I cleaned up the kitchen.

Easy.
Slow.
Quiet.
Peaceful.

A light rain began. A little sleet? A little snow? Soon there was a sprinkling of white here and there around the yard. Ava and I ventured to the back porch. We quickly breathed some good, clean, CHILLY, fresh Texas air, snapped a photo, and immediately retreated to the fireplace.

 

          Dear Heart tuned in a golf game, I pulled out my current knitting project, Daughter retreated to her end of the house for a rousing Scrabble game on her computer, and Ava snoozed by the fire.

          My needles clicked and clacked while my mind floated in that stress-less state of nothingness. A rare thing for this old but not necessarily wise wife/mom/great grandmother/sister/aunt/care provider/person-in-charge of everything overgrown worrier.

All day. All evening.

I wonder if our yesterday counts as REST.
As BE STILL AND KNOW.
As COME UNTO ME ALL YOU WHO ARE TIRED.

Our yesterday was a very good thing for us and for our minds and for our souls. And we exaulted God..deeply.

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work
Psalm 46:10
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Matthew 11:28
 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
(NIV)


Personally, I give thanks that we took a day of rest. I highly recommend it. Especially for us aging Type-A’s. J

Prayers & Praises restored,
    Liz