Understanding Busy { Embracing Rest :: Day 1 }

Most days, I would consider myself a busy person.

I’m a stay-at-home mom. Which means I am maid, cook, chauffeur, launderer, teacher, disciplinarian, nose-wiper, owie-kisser, and bedtime snuggler.

I’m also a wife. Which means I am maid, cook, helper, proofreader, scheduler, and supporter.

Then, I’m a writer. Which for me means I am blogger, facebooker, tweeter (totally a word), commenter, reader, and creator.

Last but certainly not least, I’m a Jesus follower. Which means I’m a Bible-reader, journaler, pray-er, and introspective thinker.

That’s a lot of people to be in one day. That’s a lot of things to do.

It’s a lot of busy.

And yet, most days I don’t feel like it’s enough.

I have pinterest boards full of fun recipes and articles and toddler activities that I never actually do. I have a closet full of craft supplies for projects that remain incomplete. I have a to-do list that often looks the same as yesterdays, except a little bit longer.

A lot of the time I feel like I should be doing all of the things I need to do, and more. And if I don’t check off all the boxes on my to-do list, I’ve failed.

The truth is, I can’t do it all. And neither can you.

Productivity is great. Hard work and a responsible work ethic have their place, to be sure. But I’m guessing that if you’re a mom yourself, you don’t need to be told to work hard. You do it every day.

What you need is a reminder to rest.

Rest. It sounds impossible, right?

Actually, it’s essential.

All that busy? It’s impossible to sustain. We were created with a significant need for rest. It’s ingrained into our very being.

Embracing rest begins with accepting the very fact that we need it. That we can’t be everything to everyone all the time. That we could really use some help, and yes, a break would be lovely!

Without rest, all we have is busy. And busy after busy after busy leads to burnout. To breakdowns. To disaster. (<– tweet this)

None of which lead to the way God intended us to live.

But we’ll talk more about that tomorrow.

Today, my challenge to you is to take a serious look at your life. Look at your responsibilities, your schedule, your calendar, and evaluate it. What is essential? What is purely busywork? Take today’s to-do list and cut out one non-essential task, and do it guilt-free. Begin thinking of rest as an integral part of your life, and start to think of ways you can treat it as such. And then join us tomorrow, when we’ll talk about how we have actually been created for rest. Who knew?

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!