Creating Resting Space { Embracing Rest :: Day 4 }

Now that we’ve understood busy, learned we were created for rest and given ourselves permission to rest, today is all about creating space FOR that rest!

I love this part.

Rest is possible, we just have to get creative. Here are a few of my favorite ways to sneak some rest into your week:

• Wake up early. This does require getting to bed at a decent hour. But if you do, and you’re able to rise before the rest of your family, you’ll LOVE that quiet time. Read the Bible, read a book, journal, or just drink your coffee in peace. Pure bliss. This is my favorite type of daily rest.
• Stay up late. This requires the ability to sleep in a bit. (Giving up sleep for the sake of rest is counterintuitive.) I love being up at night when everyone else is asleep. Just like rising early, staying up late brings a stillness that doesn’t exist in my house during the day.
• Secure child care. Trade with a neighboring mom, find a preschool that offers just one day a week, ask a family member if they’d be interested in a standing babysitting gig. Do whatever you need to do to get a few hours to yourself, even just once a week. Your kids need this as much as you do. Time with trusted friends and family will only enhance the social skills of your kiddo.

Sometimes, though, none of those specific things are possible. If you have a newborn, a child with special needs, or health issues of your own, it’s hard to find rest away from your family. But take heart, here are a few things you can do without ever leaving the house:

• Make Naptime a whole-house sort of thing. If the kids are sleeping (or quiet), so are you. The laundry can wait a couple of hours.
• Listen to worship music instead of kid music. Don’t get me wrong, I love VeggieTales as much as the next guy, but it doesn’t feed my heart and fill my soul like the words and music of a great hymn or worship song. God speaks through music. Let Him.
• Exercise. Head outside. The kids can ride in the stroller as you walk off the stresses of the week. Or choose a great workout video that you and your kids can do together. On a stressful day, my favorite video is this one from Fit2B.us:

Can’t see the video? Click here!

This video is only available here for a short time. If you like it as much as I do, you can find it at Fit2B.us, my all-time favorite “gym” for mommies. Get 3 months for just $20 with the code FITWITHKAYSE

Bottom line, we MUST create space for embracing rest. It’s not going to find it’s way into our day on it’s own – it’s up to us to incorporate it.

How do you find rest in your day? What would that look like to you?

To check out the 15 other bloggers and their individual topics in this 5 Days of Intentional Living series, just click here or on the image above!

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