Off Day

     Today is my off day which means I am exempt from any care-giving duties for the entire day. It is good to be able to refresh and get a change of pace, but I am always eager to get back to Rebecca the next day. Usually I prefer to use my off days to get out, hop on a train, and explore some part of Belgium. But last week I came down with a nasty cold that turned into a relentless cough (prayers appreciated) so by the time my off day rolled around I was ready for a day of absolutely nothing. I can't remember the last "nothing" day I have had before now, but I do remember almost coming to the the limit of my energy a few months ago.
       It was the Tuesday of my last week of classes and I had just finished a day of international law and diplomacy classes and was heading into my 4 pm shift at the French restaurant I worked at. What I had expected to be a fairly standard quiet Tuesday evening shift turned into a server's nightmare. We were understaffed and I was the only server on duty, next thing I knew I was being stretched between a table of six in the tower room a table of nine in the chimney room and several other tables outside on the patio. I sprinted around the restaurant running glasses of Cabernet to one table, extra bread to another, attempting to calm down an irritated customer, and then sprinting back to carry out trays of food for the next table. It was complete chaos and I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. That wild evening finally came to a close and as I pulled into my apartment God revealed to me how that night at work was not a far stretch from the chaos my life had become. Over the past year or even years my life had been a combination of a 100 meter dash and a juggling stunt. I sprinted between my jobs, classes, studying, Bible studies, family time,  and church while somehow juggling in some time for friends and a few dating relationships as well. I am sure this frantic pace is familiar to many of you.
        When I sat down with my Dad to discuss and pray over how I was going to choose to spend this next season he asked one question, "Anna, do you feel like you need this year to be one of rest?" My eyes instantly teared up as I realized that the pace of my life had squelched out an ability to be at peace, to hear Gods whispers, and to rest in Him. It wasn't that any of the things I did was wrong or even that my lifestyle was wrong, but I knew I needed a season of rest until I could learn to completely rest in God through the chaos. And that is exactly what I have been given here, a season of rest. Not that everyday is spent laying around doing nothing, but it is here that my soul can be at rest and I can hear God's whispers as I rest in Him. God knows exactly what we need for each season and skillfully coordinates our lives to receive what we need in each season. I am so thankful for this season and know that I can entrust my life to a God who knows better than I what I need in each season. I was overcome with gratitude as I walked through the garden today realizing that God prepares spacious places for us to delight in Him and His creation has He delights in us.
"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him" Psalm 62:1