Year of Rest in Review

My year of writing on rest, hoping to learn to rest is coming to an end. How did it go? Have I learned anything?

I certainly haven’t come as far as I hoped. That really is no surprise. Realistic goals and expectations are not my strong suit.  I think that is an area I get to focus on next year because I am getting the sense that my One Word for 2013 is Dream. Just the word brings up issues in my heart, so I guess it’s time to get working on them. Back to this year though, rest.

I have become more aware of my thinking, obsessing. I have created a few habits to help me rest. I take 15 minutes in the morning to make an agenda for the day. This involves consulting God and my task list. I need to add a time in the early afternoon to asses where I’m at and make any needed adjustments. I turn more thoughts to prayers.

I am aware of the need to continue to rest, to learn more of Him so I rest more easily.  I feel an urgency to be very firmly grounded in Him, able to rest no matter what happens around me. The darkness grows darker, so the light must shine brighter to overcome it. His light can only shine through me if I am resting in Him.

Did you learn anything about rest this year?
Did you have One Word of your own?
Will you have one for 2013?

Resting in Celebrating

It’s the week before Christmas and all is at rest. 

Wouldn’t that be lovely? To rest in this beautiful time of year? 

I really enjoy sitting on the couch with only the Christmas tree lights on, preferably white. This year they set up the tree so we can plug in colored, white or both! Mostly only the white get plugged in. I think I have won my children over from colored. This seems so peaceful to me. How often do I take the time to rest and enjoy my tree? Not often enough, the list of things to do is too long. Who still needs gifts? What will the gifts be? What about the annual Christmas letter? Gifts to send to family far away should be gone already and they’re not done either.

It is a struggle to rest in the midst of all these extra demands. I’m getting better about not caring if I meet expected timelines. It would be nice to be one time, but I may have to be okay with being late. It’s better than being stressed. Every year I let go of a little more. Next year we’ve been talking about simplifying even more. Rest has to be important enough to make time and room for.  That means other things have to be adjusted, reduced or even eliminated.  

I also realized this morning I have not been taking time to meditate on the richness of God’s gifts to me. We often say God’s greatest gift was Jesus being born. That is really only the beginning of the story. All the wonderful gifts God has for us are only possible because Jesus followed the plan through death to be resurrected and glorified.

How lost do His great gifts to us become in the midst of all the holiday traditions and demands? In trying to prepare gifts and treats I am missing out on rest, not just because I'm busy, my mind is not at rest. I am missing out on the reason I say we are celebrating. I struggle not to lose Jesus in the holiday preparations.

Jesus came and that changed everything. 

It’s worth celebrating.

It is worth so much more than celebrating.

It’s worth changing for, living for, dying for.

He did. 

Will I? 

Will you?

Faith to Rest

Faith, true faith really is rest.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.”

 Hebrews  11:1 NET

Believing what God said is true when we can’t see it is rest. Really believing, not just wishing or hoping, believing – fully persuaded.

I am fully persuaded my husband is committed to me for the rest of our lives. This gives me great rest. I save a great deal of energy having faith in his promise and commitment to me. I can’t see his every move and I can’t see the future but I can believe his promise and his faithful record in the past.

My faith in God provides an even greater rest. He can see the future. Sometimes the things I see in my life don’t make sense and I really don’t like them. However I can look back through centuries and see that indeed He is faithful and really can work all things to His plan. He has made many great promises and He will keep them all. I can rest.

There is no fear in love. If I believe He loves me as He loved the world, as He chose be before the founding of the world, I can rest in His love. I may have to believe by faith. I can’t always see or feel God’s love. He promises it, so by faith I rest.

Schedule and Plan for Rest

Are your holiday plans well under way or running away?

To have rest at any time of the year we have to plan and prioritize. Even more so at Christmas. Make sure to plan in some rest. Also be sure to make a full inventory of all you intend to do. What preparation is involved? How many resources – not only money – time & emotions, too.  List EVERYTHING involved, every step in it’s entirety.

Now the reality check. Can you actually do everything on your list? Do you have enough of every kind of resource to pull it off? Another question, do you want to use all those resources? Do you have any reserves?

In the past I have failed in many steps of this planning. Every year I continue to simplify and learn to be more realistic in my planning, in understanding what it will really take to pull off my plans. As an example for many years it was a tradition to make gingerbread houses with two other families. A great day for everyone involved. For the planning though it was not just the day on the calendar. There had to be the rearranging of school plans. How long does it take to get snow gear for three children? What about lunch? A special trip to the store for candy we do not keep around the house but need for our project. This is a great tradition and worth all the effort, I just sometimes forget to plan all the parts I need to plan. It goes better when I remember.

It may be that when you really look at what goes in to some of your holiday plans you will decide you either do not have or do not want to use your resources that way. You may want some time to rest so you can have a better attitude toward your family in this “holly, jolly” season.

Question: How is your planning going?

Challenge: Do your holiday plans include rest? Do they focus on Jesus? 

An invitation: During December I’m posting Countdown to Christmas. Focus on Jesus. At my Focus on Jesus blog. I hope you’ll stop by for a quick note of encouragement.

Christmas Blessing: You can still enter for the $320 prize money until December 11, 2012. There are many great blogs sharing in the blessing. Read and enter on them all!