Finding Rest as a Christian Mama

Rest...seems like such an out of reach "thing" nowadays for most of us. Depending upon your work schedules, your personality-type, the size of your family and the level of activity your family participates in in the evenings/weekends, rest-just flat out, sometimes seems unrealistic...

Until- we think about what rest really means.

Yes, we need sleep, we cannot push ourselves physically, we are not called to and sleep is a huge part of rest ...

Psalm 127:2 (NLT)- "It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones."

Listen to this...

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 127:2...

...He gives his beloved sleep, that is, quietness and contentment of mind, and comfortable enjoyment of what is present and a comfortable expectation of what is to come. Our care must be to keep ourselves in the love of God, and then we may be easy whether we have little or much of this world.

It seems as if this commentary is saying that sleep/rest (which is of course physical and is necessary), is also other things...

~quietness and contentment of mind
~comfortable enjoyment of what is present
~comfortable expectation of what is to come
~keeping ourselves in the love of God

WOW....

I don't know about you- but when I read this, my entire soul just exhales...

I am busy like you...

I work FT outside the home, approximately 40 hours/week, I have two kids (boys- age 4 and 8), I lead a Bible Study one night/week at church, my older son is always in one sport and soon (Baseball Season!) both boys will be in one sport, my husband is a Little League Vice President and coach and therefore for I help him out as needed and I take on some duties as a coach's wife...you may be at home with a handful of kiddos – your work may look more like 15 hours a day –  loving on babies, homeschooling school age children, working from home, as I always say – all moms are working moms. And you may have a wide variety of hats that you wear in roles that you play that are different than mine.  I think we can all agree that all moms are busy and all moms need rest.

Believe me when I say that there are days I want to throw in the towel.

There are also seasons where I say no, where I take mental health days to recover from a hectic weekend, where I have my "back-up" teach Bible Study for me, I sleep in on Saturday and put out cereal and the remote for my boys,  and when I tell hubby he is on his own with the sports agenda for the weekend...it is necessary to know when you are too busy...very necessary...

But I think providing rest for ourselves can be done in many ways even amidst our busy lives- and I just LOVE what I read in this commentary...

I want to be quiet and content in my mind, to comfortable enjoy the present,  to comfortably look to the future for what is coming and to keep myself in the love of God...this reminds me so much of the word ABIDE...

John 15:4 (NASB)- "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me."

Keeping ourselves in the love of God, abiding in Him...

Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)- “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.”

The unforced rhythms of grace...oh my word- these words are so beautiful to me...

How do YOU find rest as a busy Mama? Comment below and share your ideas- practical ways, spiritual disciplines, weekly/monthly plans for self-care? Let's help each with this...

Liz