Time & Rest

Time is a funny thing. Some have said that time is fleeting. Probably because it is here one minute and gone the next. 😉😉 Today is Sunday July 22, and here I sit writing my first blog post in…. how long? I forget! But alas, I find myself sitting at my computer, nursing a cold on a Sunday afternoon, and typing up some thoughts about time; and subsequently, rest.

Today I’m bored, but last week I was rejoicing. Last week, was my final 14 hr day, scanning tickets down at the stampede grounds. I’m grateful for the work, but after doing that for 6 days straight, my body was craving rest. Rest and being able to wear shorts again. HAHAHA!!!

Rewind to a month ago, the middle of June, I was again craving rest. I have been going nonstop since January and at some point in June, I was starting to feel tired. I had been getting enough sleep at night, but during the day, I felt as though my mind was always working. I was in charge of The Outpouring, a once a month worship service for the special needs community at centre street church; I was co-leading a bible study once a week with a fella connected to URSA; I was part of a team of people helping plan a disability ministry conference, and I have recently become a part of Young Life, with plans of working with them starting sometime in the fall.

So if I wasn’t sleeping, my mind was buzzing with ideas for one of those things. Which, I don’t mind
doing (and I’m actually quite excited to be doing those things once again after the summer is over).But if your mind is going all day everyday like that for 6 months, your energy level starts to wane. Now I’m 6 days into my season of rest, and I’m bored. Reflecting on this, it reminds me of the Israelites after they left Egypt. In Egypt, they worked themselves to the bone for 400 years, complaining and praying to God for some relief and freedom from such oppression. A few weeks into the freedom they so desperately craved, they didn’t like it and wanted to go back. (Exodus 16:1-3). HAHA!! I guess it’s true what they say: history repeats itself. 😛

That said, I’m not going to just sit on my butt twiddling my thumbs until September waiting for things to start back up again. Instead, I’m going to fill the time with stuff that will breathe some new life into these bones. The website, Every Day With God has a series of devotionals on resting and other Sabbath related posts. I’m planning on reading those once a day starting tomorrow. My fitness coaches, Jackie and Jamie are running an 8 week fitness challenge using Beachbody’s new workout program, Liift4. That started this past week, and I plan on following through to the end.

With my involvement in Young Life starting in the fall, I was planning on attending my buddy Erik's

“dreaming about and planning for the future” thing him and his wife are hosting next weekend, hoping it would give me some ideas for young life in the fall, but after some prayer and reflection, I decided to not to attend. Young Life may already have things in store for me when I get there. So ill just grace Young Life’s doors with a “ready to learn” attitude instead. Also, my best friend and I are planning on spending a few days in Edmonton this summer too.

Those are just MY plans. Who knows what other adventures I’ll encounter during my season of rest. The proverbs do say, "A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.  (Proverbs 16:9). Whatever happens, I’m ready and willing to embrace it, head on.