You'll never guess what just happened.
I have had a long week full of wonderful, rich, meaningful conversations, which I LOVE! But it has left me exhausted. I feel like I'm almost out of words, which if you know me, you'd never expect to hear me, of all people, say.
And in the midst of that, some things also happened that left me feeling bruised.
Bruised and exhausted, I opened up Good Enough because it was time to write another reflection ... and there was the entry title: "When You Are Exhausted."
And when my eyes landed on the line "And, eventually, something stirs and busies itself within me, doing some kind of mysterious interior repair. I become a little more myself" (p 56), my soul sighed.
I'm still trying to figure out what the "mysterious interior repair is" exactly and how I might nurture and encourage its work - especially today. (There's probably something in my regula that could help, so that's where I'm starting. For review: check out this and this.)
But what I think I most appreciate about today's reading is, "But here is the truth. You are in this - this chronic, unfixable condition called life - and yet at the same time, you are precious beyond rubies. You are worth protecting and preserving. You are meant to be intact" (p 58).
So my work for the day is to figure out what kind of rest I need.
And before you suggest taking a nap (which is part of the plan!), I've also read that there are different types of rest. I have no idea how scientific this is exactly, but I've experimented with some of these, and it worked for me.
"I feel alone. The parenting. The endless to-dos. The juggling too much. The spread too thin. O God, I cry out to You from the ends of the earth: Show me again how this works -- how You bring dry bones to life. Help me." (p 59)
Pastor Allison
I'm curious
From page 60: "God built rest into the very architecture of creation. Jesus even took a nap on the bow of a ship in the middle of a storm.
"If God rests ... and Jesus rests, certainly we can too. ... What brings you rest?"
