God's Permission to Rest

Are you like me with a to do list longer than you could ever accomplish in a day? Do you run, and do, and be, and hurry noisily through any quiet time to continue the loudness of the day?

That's me. It's all I've ever known. Even on vacations I'm frantic. Scanning travel brochures so we won't miss out or regret not seeing or living. 

I live life to the full! Or do I?

When my husband retired a year ago, he wanted to live in the woods where he could sit in the quiet and just breath without phones ringing and people demanding and to do lists making him feel guilty.

He deserved this retirement. I've seen few men who worked so hard and yet kept life well balanced. He went to work before dawn, so he could be home for dinner to spend quality time with those he loved most. 

So now we live in the house in the woods. I sit on our back porch listening to the birds. Mozart fills our home,  but our backyard symphony exceeds any human composer. Our house is surrounded by woods, and the birds chirping sound like an echo. Yellow butterflies are huge and abundant. Daily walks around our four acres enjoying the new flowers that pop up every day fill me. The previous owner loved flowers and she planted an abundance. Sweet soul. I never knew her but I feel like I do.She left flowers as her legacy of love to those who now enjoy this home she made beautiful.

I told my daughter, "I feel guilty spending so much time outside breathing in all that is nature. I love my flowers and animal friends and the sweet solitude with God." 

I love Joanna's response. 

"Mom, God said to consider the lilies. He didn't say rush by. He wants you to stop and look and smell and feel the breeze against your face and the grass between your toes. God said, 'consider.' He didn't say 'rush.'"

"Consider how the lilies grow.

They do not labor or spin . . . ."

Luke 12:27 (NIV)

So, I am. I am considering this lily picked from my garden, as well as the deer and turkeys and this sweet family of quintuplets.

Allow yourself a splash of serenity this summer and obey God by considering His beautiful playground. It's all right. God gives His permission to rest.

I may not blog for a few weeks as our family vacations, and I "consider" the wonder of babies, the questions of toddlers, the sweet love of middlers, and the jokes of teenagers. My ten grandchildren (ages 1 - 16) and their parents will join Dan and me for a time up at our Adirondack camp.  We'll laugh and be loud, splash in the lake, and sing around the campfire.  I refuse to make to do lists and I promise I will "consider" and enjoy each special moment God gives as we create memories to consider and treasure for the rest of our lives.

Have a splashes of serenity summer!