Friday night we talked to her family for a while, and of course, as every one does at one in the morning after a long drive, we lit huge fireworks. Then, we went off to bed. I awoke to the sound of an AK47 firing into the hills, right off of our back porch. I'm not very used to that, but it was great! The sun waited for no one's permission to start beating down hard- we could tell it was gonna be a warm day. I decided to hit the trail before breakfast, avoiding the worst of it, and go for a run. Take a deep breath with me.... sigh.... and picture a creek with two PA-sized mountains on the other side, covered in green. They intersected like the two hills in the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe (gosh, must everything be Narnia? Yes.) I couldn't help but chuckle and think "myyyy house, is betweeeen those hills" (that's a little shout out to my siblings) as I caught up to the trail head. Trees lined either side at first and kind of arched over it like a canopy. Take another deep breath..... Enter into green. Wooded now, on one side, a road on the other. As you get further in, you cross over the road, then the trail widens and it's just you, the "crik" and the woods.
Entering this scene made me smile uncontrollably. Which would have been fine, except I forgot my headphones that day, and I was borrowing someones "got-these-for-christ-mas" pink ear muff headphones. I looked like I had been let out from somewhere for the day, earmuffs in 90 degrees and smiling like I knew something everyone else didn't know. Haha! Anyways, being that God still loves me even when I look like that, I heard from Him very clearly that morning.
As I ran I lost track of distance. I was pretty sure I passed the two mile mark, and thought about turning around. It was getting too warm to do any more than 4 miles. This is the point at which my initial instinct is to push one more mile and beast it. Instead, I just felt as thought someone put their hands on my shoulders and slowed me down- rest, Jessy, rest!
"But God," I argued "I have this whole break and I want to learn more discipline"
I felt the hands on my shoulders again, like a stern father "Rest IS a discipline!"
It hit me like a ton of bricks. For someone like me in the habit of pushing further, running more, being busier, being more productive...learning to rest ...... requires discipline. Teach me about this my heart silently prayed. And I kid you not, I looked up and saw patch of sunlight shining through the trees on a little bench by the water. And, like any girl in a good Academy Award winning film, I took a seat and a deep breath and looked around. It is cliche, I'm sorry, but when I move too fast I really do miss the view. The hills were breath taking and the water flowed steadily down stream, making mini waves and ripples light shone here and there, and a breeze played with my hair. Little violets grew where my feet were. Chipmunks let their tails carry them through the air as the bounded past the trail. An occasional splash could be heard from a fish jumping out of the water...
Isn't rest selfish though, I thought. Like, what if they're wondering where I am. And I came to visit and I'm not there... I don't know why I wanted to argue the wonderful command to take a breather, maybe I just wanted reassurance that it really is ok...
Rest isn't selfishness, rest is gratefulness...
Another ton of bricks hit my mind as the idea occurred to me. I'm often moving so fast trying to be "unselfish" when in fact I am missing a key component to serving the Lord. Gratefulness. Actually, isn't serving our Lord one big act of gratefulness?? I feel like I'm only scratching the surface of a life long lesson. Rest is taking the time to look around and notice. Noticing all that I have been given, soaking in what I so often miss and saying Thank You for this, for all of this ... there is so much.
I guess that's what taking a Sabbath is; it's being the one leper that came back. It's taking a big sigh and falling to the ground and in all of our healthy weekly fatigue saying "thank you..." ---
This reminds me of one more thought that I will leave you with: God often speaks to me on morning runs. And on another run before I moved, I felt the Lord bring to my attention that REST, is from the word RESTORATION. Don't think about a tacky sermon application here... think about etymology... rest is short for being restored... it's a nickname. :) So when you pray for restoration and He asks you to slow down... it's an answer to your prayer :)
"[And] after you have suffered a little while will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast" (1Pete5:10) ...meaning, He will make us rest..."He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul"
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All my love, take it easy.
Planted by water,
Jessy
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This reminds me of a book that helped me begin this journey back in April. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It's about stopping in the moment, and being grateful when we ARE busy. To seek out beauty and live lives of gratefulness, living fully- today. Check it out, along with her photos and blog. One Thousand Gifts
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