Collections & Conversations
a midweek collection on rest
I really hate napping.
I also don’t like the word hate so let me rephrase: Napping stresses me out. Logic really takes a back seat for me in terms of my attitude toward napping, but at least I have some self-awareness going for me.
If I take a nap, one of two things has happened: I’ve really come to the end of myself in terms of stress and that little scratchy feeling in the back of my throat that I now know is my immune system saying hello OR I’ve had a brief moment of rational thinking on a random afternoon where I got up too early for the day. Last week the rational thinking happened and I decided to lay down on the couch for a 24 minute nap.1 I even got a heavy blanket to ensure it wouldn’t take me too many of those minutes to doze off and guess what? It worked perfectly…until I startled awake to the sound of an arm reaching through our mail slot and the sweet voice of the 7 year old boy across the street calling out: “Heeeeey! It’s me Jack! Are you in there?” Since moving back into our home after an 8 month detour2, the front of our house (and that of Jack’s mom who is a dear friend and likely reading this) has functioned a bit like a revolving door—kids coming and going, scooters in tow, shoes everywhere, and now arms through the walls. I popped up from that nap assessing myself.
Am I rested now? Did that do the trick?
I’m someone to whom nighttime sleep has always come rather easily. Chalk it up to genetics, the fact that I don’t have a newborn anymore, or that I’m too young for menopause, but I can fall asleep in 5 minutes and usually stay that way until morning. This category of my life is going fine so why wake up questioning whether I’m rested when the biological evidence says I should be? It could be the normal busyness of life. Spring is notoriously full when you’ve got school-aged children or when you’re just trying to live and work and be a human. It could also be that I’ve taken on more than I should and I’m already naturally inclined to feel responsible for things.
Or it could be that what is usually branded as an external problem is actually an internal one. Ouch, I knew that didn’t I? Sometimes what I know to be true has to be revisited. Rest isn’t something that I earn. It’s not something that I can schedule or that I can fit into a tight 24 minutes. That’s cheap rest, the kind that leaves me with a slight headache and the thought that “next time I’ll plan better…”
Jesus taught about a different kind of rest and while I’ve heard this a thousand times, it bears remembering:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30, the Message translation
This is Jesus’s invitation to those of us who want to lay down the notion that we must achieve, we must acquire, we must produce and then we can rest. This is real rest and I want it. Someone to invite me on a walk and show me how to live freely and lightly.
So this week I’m inviting you to revisit some simple truths with me about rest. These resources are not meant to be added to your list of things to accomplish or consume before resting, but simply as tools for remembering the truth of God’s upside down kingdom. You don’t have to earn rest, you don’t have to compartmentalize for it. It’s a gift available to us even when the exterior of life says we shouldn’t be rested.
I hope you’ll take a walk this week and remember!
Emily
Weekly Word: Rest - a short episode on real rest, perfect for a walk :)
Sabbath Guide & The Gifts of Grief with Lauren King - a conversation with my friend Lauren who created an awesome resource on Sabbath that you can order here.
Tired of Being Tired: Receive God’s Realistic Rest for Your Soul-Deep Exhaustion by Jess Connolly - I haven’t read it yet, but I love Jess’s work and it’s on my list.
Bluey Season 3, Episode 40 - Relax - once again Bluey with the wildly accurate depiction of life as a parent.
O Come To The Altar - one of my favorite worship songs
24 minutes = the approximate length of 1 episode of Doc McStuffins OR 3 episodes of Bluey. Parents know.
Yes! Embracing rest as a gift instead of a reward is key to the life we were meant to live!
Despite being a terrible sleeper, (which is getting worse with every midde-aged year) I hate naps! My aversion is based on how hard it is for me to do and if I can, I am so irritable when I wake up it never feels restful. But I have tried to seek out intentional rest in other ways.
Have you read Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey yet? It's on my TBR list and somone gifted me her nap ministry card deck and her message is also one of not needing to earn rest.