Rest

Rest is a very hard concept for me. As someone who does life with almost a sense of urgency, the idea of taking a break is just foreign.

Even when I'm home from work (or the kids are with their dad), I make plans. Activities, play dates, grocery shopping, Bible studies, potlucks, coffee with friends, ladies' nights out... the list goes on and on. I've been told by more than one person that I should probably take a break. Haha.

However, I seemed to have finally hit a proverbial wall this past weekend. I worked from 4:30-9 am, followed by cleaning, laundry, errands, car-washing, kid-bathing, crafts, etc. By Sunday morning, I was frazzled. 

All three children were dressed, my daughter sporting a new dress and clean, brushed hair (which is an accomplishment for my 3-year-old tornado). I walked into my bathroom to finish my hair. Seconds later, M walked in... covered in Vaseline. It was all over her hands, face, hair, new dress...

Vaseline is really hard to wash out of hair, just so you know. I probably washed my daughter's hair three to four times before giving up. I was utterly frazzled and close to tears. It was a huge effort to make it to church, but I felt guilty that the morning had centered more around our "activity" rather than the kids. Don't get me wrong, church is important, but arriving to church with a bad attitude wasn't good. My focus was all wrong and I resolved to change it.

For weeks, I had promised my older son that we would go on a "date." As the older brother of two high-maintenance trouble-makers, poor C doesn't get as much attention as he needs. He's a trooper and rarely complains, but I know one of his love-languages is quality time. So after church, we left the two younger siblings with my mom and got pizza - just the two of us. He was perfectly content just sitting next to me while quietly munching his cheese pizza and coloring. His face beamed. He got Mommy all to himself for a couple of hours with no competition.

By the time we got home, I was too exhausted to leave the house or get out of my pajamas. So instead of going to a church potluck that evening, we stayed in. I made the day about the kids and put aside other "extra-curricular" activities. We did finger painting, baked cookies, played video games, and had leftover pizza and popcorn for dinner. (Not the most nutritious dinner, but the kids loved it.)

It was a restful, yet productive end to our day. I got to spend quality time with my kids and rest. Taking a break can be a good thing, after all.