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I'm linking up with Home with the Boys for the next few weeks and reading Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson. If you'd like to join in, here is the original post from Erin with the details and reading schedule.
Scripture passages for this week and my notes at YouVersion.com:
My favorite quotes from this chapter:
- I need to make time to drink of his restful waters to replenish my own well! pg. 59
- I find it a constant challenge to stay filled so I can be a source of spiritual life to my family. pg. 59
- … my “disciples” are with me 24 hours a day, every day, and there is no hiding it when I'm spiritually depleted. pg. 59-60
Sally says that we need to find time for God, time for ourselves, time for beauty, and time for friends. I find it a strange comfort that even someone who appears as solid as Sally struggles with staying “filled”.
Finding rest and time with God. How do I fit rest into my already overwhelmed schedule? Somehow, it must be done. If I don't, I cannot take care of myself or my family.
To say it more simply, I cannot keep giving out without taking in.
pg. 58
Unfortunately, for non-early morning people like me, the old advice “early to bed and early to rise” really does seem to be best.
Now that Jacob is almost one and sleeps through the night consistently, I'm working to set a good morning routine for myself. It was one of my August and now one of my September 3 in 30 goals to be up early. I'm trying to be up by 6:15am with a goal of moving this to 6am by the end of the month. I'd like to move this a little earlier as time progresses, but we'll see what happens. When my alarm goes off I climb out of bed, grab my glasses from my table, and stumble into my reading chair. I grab the books I'm currently reading and my iPad. I spend however long I need (or I can get depending on the morning) reading and spending time with God.
My current motivator has been Hello Mornings which I discovered about six weeks ago. I know that a good morning routine starts me off for a good day, but there is something about accountability that makes it so much easier. I need that extra push. I'm excited about having a group of ladies who rally around me this fall to help me build a good habit. 3 in 30 has also been a great resources and source of accountability.
And beauty? For me, this pursuit of beauty is not visual. Sure, a beautiful sunrise is magnificent and I like to be around pretty things, but those don't bring me rest and refreshment like they might to some. For me, beauty is a book. It is reading. Too many days without an opportunity to read makes for one cranky momma. For a time between seminary through the early years of my marriage and the birth of Jonathan, I let go of books. Sure, I was a little burnt out on reading from so many years of formal schooling, but little to no reading of books for several years left me numb. I desperately need to fill myself with the written word. I rediscovered my passion for reading a couple years after Jonathan was born and during the time that I was diagnosed with dysthymia. As I've spent more time here on the blog, I've also found that there is refreshment in pouring words out of myself as well. I need to read and I need to write. I cannot go for long periods without indulging in those things.
Friends. This is probably the most difficult of the four areas for me. I'm in a season of change with leaving my job a year ago and recently moving to a new church. I'm still trying to figure out where I “fit” in this season of my life. It's times like this that I cling to a couple of local friends, a few long-time friends who are far away, and to online friends. Twitter and Facebook can be lifesavers during these periods of transition but they are not long-term replacements for close in-real-life friends.
How do you find rest and refreshment in these areas of your life?
